25 Days of Merlin
by Cattie V
Summary: 25 Merlin One shots. This is for a fansite's Advent Calendar Challenge.
1. Homesick

_Disclaimer: Merlin belongs entirely to the BBC, not to me._

It was getting close to Christmas and everyone in Camelot was preparing for the big day. Carts rolled into the city filled with trees. Men, women, and children ran to and fro getting presents for their loved ones. Everyone was excited, everyone was happy, everyone wished Christmas would hurry up and get here. Everyone that is except for Merlin.

It was his first Christmas away from Ealdor and he was getting more and more homesick as the day drew nearer. He wondered his mother was up to. Would she be decorating the tree? Or maybe making a scarf for one their neighbors. He sighed as he stared out the window of Gaius's chambers.

Snow was falling on the ground and people were running around making snowmen or igloos or having snow ball fights. He had a longing to join them, but he didn't know anyone and he thought he would just get in the way. He was still brooding when Gaius find him.

"Merlin," Gaius began, "what would you like for Christmas?"

"To go home." said Merlin, wistfully, still looking out the window. "To spend the day with my mother and all my friends in Ealdor. To sit around the hearth at home." Merlin sighed again and looked back at Gaius. "But I know that can't happen. I'm Arthur's servant. I can't go. I have duties here."

Without saying another word, he got up and went over to the door and left. Gaius watching him go and felt pity for the boy. Merlin was such a hard worker, he had saved Arthur's life, and he deserved a break every now and then.

Arthur smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the small collection of gifts that lay on his table. There was a new sheath of his father, a necklace for Morgana, a few things for some of the knights, and a book for Gaius. The only people Arthur hadn't gotten anything for yet were Merlin and Guinevere. He wanted to get them something, even if he knew that a prince shouldn't buy gifts for their servants. Yet he knew that Morgana had secretly bought something for Gwen (and Arthur was sure, Merlin too) and he was not going to be out done by her.

Besides, even if he would never admit it, he was actually quite fond of them both. Merlin might be incompetent and rather stupid at times, but there was something about him...maybe it was the surprising wit Merlin had. Who knew? As for Guinevere, he had been surprised to find a friend in Morgana's handmaid. Ever since the four of them had gone to Ealdor only a short while ago, Guinevere had suddenly become a strong and faithful alley and friend, not just the handmaid to the king's ward.

Arthur figured he'd get Guinevere some ribbons or something to put her hair in, but that still left Merlin. What to do for him? Arthur frowned as he tried to think of something Merlin would like. His thinking was interrupted when Merlin himself entered to begin his daily chores.

Merlin didn't look his usually self. He didn't seem in the mood for their usual banter and after a few failed attempts on Arthur's part to draw him into something resembling an actual conversation, Arthur finally got the hint that something was wrong. "Are you alright, Merlin?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. "Just feeling a bit homesick, sire." Arthur knew it was bad then. Merlin only called him "sire", instead of Arthur, when he really upset or depressed. That sparked an idea and Arthur suddenly knew what he could do for Merlin for Christmas.

Christmas day dawned, bright and cheery, like the snow continued to gently fall on the ground. "He's going to love this." said Gwen. She, Morgana, and Arthur were hiding in Merlin's room with his "present", waiting for him to show up to help Gaius out. Arthur had to let Gwen and Morgana in on the surprise and they had both been as enthusiastic about it as he was. "It really was a good idea, Arthur." Gwen told him. He beamed at her, pleased to have gotten her approval. For some reason that he could not explain, he had lately found himself trying to impress her.

Gaius too was in on the secret and he had been more than happy to play a part. Merlin soon arrive after going on a fool's errand that Arthur had sent him on in order to get him out of the way. He tried to look cheerful, it was Christmas after all.

He handed Gaius something, folded up in cloth, which the physician took and unwrapped, revealing some herbs. "I didn't know what else to get you." Merlin told him.

"That's alright, Merlin." Gaius reassured him. "Now, I think it's time for your present." No sooner were the words out of his mouth then the door to Merlin's room opened. Merlin's jaw dropped in surprise. "Mother!" He ran to here and threw his arms around here. "You're here! You're really here!"

Hunith laughed. "Yes, I am." Merlin turned to Gaius.

"How did you...?"

"Oh, it wasn't me." Gaius told him as Arthur, followed by Morgana and Gwen appeared from behind Hunith. "It was Arthur."

Merlin couldn't think of what to say. He was deeply touched that Arthur would take the time and the trouble to get his mother here to Camelot. No words could describe how he felt. So he just went with the simplest. "Thank you." Arthur nodded in return.

Merlin smiled. This had turned out to be a wonderful Christmas after all.


	2. Snowballs

"It's snowing!" Gwen ran to the window and peered out. Everywhere she looked, she could see soft fluffs of white falling from the sky. She squealed happily."Morgana, come look!"

Morgana rose from her dressing table and came and stood behind her maid. "It's so beautiful!" she exclaimed. "I've always loved snow. Sometimes I wish it would snow all year." She smiled as few memories from her early childhood at Christmas time suddenly came to mind. "Let's have a snowball fight." she said suddenly.

Gwen gaped at her in surprise. Snowball fighting was considered something for the peasants and servants, not the king's ward. It would be most unladylike for Morgana to engage in such an activity, even though it would be perfectly alright for Gwen to do so. "My lady," she began, but Morgana quickly cut her off. She knew what Gwen was about to say. She recognized that tone and knew what it meant.

"I insist, Gwen. I'm bored. I've been cooped up in here for too long and so have you. We need to get out and have so fun. So no arguing. You won't be able to change my mind."

Knowing it would useless to say anything else against the idea, Gwen gave in. Besides, she was secretly delighted by the idea. She hadn't had a snowball fight for years. The last one she had had had been with her brother Eylan before he left.

Gwen patiently attended to her mistress as Morgana changed it something warmer. Then the two headed out of the castle and to Gwen's house, while she changed. When the two were ready, they just went outside, picked up some snow, formed them into balls and began throwing them at each other, as well as did a lot of running and shouting.

Merlin was on his hands and knees scrubbing away at Arthur's floor when the sounds of merry shouting reached his ears. It was come from outside. Curious, Merlin got up and went to the window. He smiled as he saw Morgana and Gwen running back and forth, throwing snowballs at each other. It didn't take him long to figure out which of them was winning. Morgana might have been the better swordswoman of the two, but when it came to snowball fights, Gwen had the better aim and the better arm. Yet, it seemed to Merlin that Gwen was purposefully letting Morgana win.

On an impulse he opened the window. "Come on, Gwen!" he shouted down to them, causing both young women to stop and look up at him. "You can beat her!" Morgana glared at him, but Merlin and Gwen only laughed.

"Come on out, Merlin." said Gwen. "Come join us!"

"Oh, yes, do!" added Morgana, eagerly.

"I don't know." said Merlin. He really wanted to but he did have chores to finish. "I've got chores to do and besides I'm not sure Arthur would..."

"Arthur, Smarthur." Morgana interrupted. "Forget about him. Come on out and have some fun!"

Merlin grinned. "Alright. I will. Be down in a second." He closed the window and it wasn't long before he came running out of the castle. Before either girl could say or doing anything, he had a snowball in each hand and they each got hit. Gwen laughed as she hit him back.

"Merlin, I think we should..." Arthur stopped talking as he entered his chambers and saw that they were empty. Arthur scowled. "Where has he gone?" He spotted the bucket and the wet cloth with which Merlin had been scrubbing the floor. Arthur sighed. Merlin hadn't even finished his chores. "When I get my hands on that..." he didn't finish the thought as he heard a shout from outside. Arthur made his way over to the window and felt his jaw drop in surprise. There was Merlin having a snowball fight with Morgana and Guinevere!

Snowball fights. There were entirely inappropriate for one of nobility and when his father found out Morgana was doing it she was going to be in some much trouble. Snowballs were low and...so much fun. That was all Arthur needed.

Merlin, Morgana, and Gwen stood each holding a snowball in one hand. No one moved as they tried to decide who they should hit. Suddenly a snowball came flying and hit Merlin in the back of the neck. The three of them turned to see Arthur, a mischievous grin on his face. "Can't let you have all the fun." he said.

As snowballs whizzed threw the air, Merlin soon noticed that Arthur was only throwing snowballs at him and Morgana, but not at Gwen. Merlin smiled at this. It had been a few months since the whole incident with Lancelot had occurred and Merlin was pleased to see that Arthur still seemed to care for her. Gwen too seemed to share those feeling as she was likewise only hitting Merlin and Morgana. So that's how the teams were formed: Merlin and Morgana versus Arthur and Gwen.

The day wore on and Merlin and Morgana had just suffered a barge of snowballs one after another by their opponents when Merlin saw Gwen suddenly stop and let the snowball she held in her hand fall to the ground. Merlin turned to see what she was looking at and he too stood suddenly still. Morgana and Arthur didn't notice and were busy clobbering each other in a way that was very unbecoming for a prince and a king's ward. Arthur took one in the face and Morgana smiled in triumph. She turned to Merlin to tell him to get Gwen when she noticed that neither one of the servants were moving. She nudged Arthur and they turned to see why Merlin and Gwen had gone so still. Standing a few yard from where they stood, was Gaius, Sir Leon, a few other knights, and the king.

_I'm dead._ Arthur thought. He knew what was coming and so did Morgana as she stared nervously at the ground. For several seconds no one spoke. Finally Uther cleared his throat. "Who's idea was this?" he asked. Gwen opened her mouth to put herself forward when Morgana spoke.

"It was mine." Uther looked at his ward in surprise. "I was bored." she continued. "There was the snow on the ground and I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I convinced my maid to have a snowball fight with him. Then I enticed Merlin into joining us."

Uther turned to his son. "And you?"

"I saw them from the window and I couldn't resist the opportunity to give Merlin a good thrashing." A small smile appeared on Uther's face. " I see." Then before anyone was aware of what he was about to do, a snowball came flying through the air, hitting Arthur on the shoulder. Arthur looked at his father in surprise. Uther was laughing.

"Carry on." he patted his on on the should as he passed. Arthur smiled as he realized that his father wasn't angry with him or any of them. They didn't need to be told twice.


	3. His Pride and Joy

_Author's Note: This one is a little shorter, but I just felt that I had to do it. _

Uther wondered through the halls of the castle, not really paying attention to where he was going. Even though there were servants everywhere, hurrying to and fro in order to prepare for Camelot's annual Christmas Banquet, it had never felt more empty. Everywhere he turned he expected to see _her._ He expected to see her flowing blond hair and her sparkling blue eyes. He expected to hear her laugh, to feel her lips on his. But she was gone. Ygraine was dead.

This was to be his first Christmas without her and Uther didn't know how he would be able to bear it. His had been his life, his whole world had revolved around her. She had been his pride and joy. Now she was gone. Her life had been snuffed out and she had been too young. It wasn't fair.

If she had just died normally in childbirth, her death might have been easier for him to bear. But no. There was nothing _normal_ about the situation. She was dead because of magic. Magic had had a hand in her death. Uther had never liked magic, but now he hated it. He hated everything to do with it, he hated anyone who used it.

Uther tried to force his thoughts away from Ygraine and his hatred of magic. It was Christmas. It was a time to be happy and cheery, not a time to be sad and full of hate.

As Uther turned a corner, he realized that he had subconsciously made his way to the nursery. Uther hesitated, but eventually decided to enter. A young woman in her early twenties looked up as he entered. She was the nanny Uther had hired even before Ygraine had given birth. She stood and curtsied. Uther nodded in acknowledgment, but his eyes were on the cradle.

The nanny understood that he desired to be alone with his infant son and she quickly left the room. Uther sat in the chair that the nanny had vacated and stared down into the cradle at the sleeping form of baby Arthur. He was only a couple of months old and he looked so frail and tiny. Uther was seized with a sudden fear that he would lose his son too. He reached it and gently lifted Arthur and held him to his chest.

Arthur stirred and his little eyes opened and they seemed to focus on his father. He didn't cry and Uther could have sworn that his son had just smiled at him. Uther rubbed Arthur's cheek with his finger and he clutched him even more tightly, afraid to ever let him go, lest he lose him like he had Ygraine.

Ygraine was dead, but she had left him a son. A treasure. Uther would give his life if it meant keeping Arthur safe. Arthur was more important to him than his entire kingdom. Arthur was his world now. Arthur was his new pride and joy.


	4. The Prince & The Pauper

It was Christmas Eve and Arthur wondered how he had gotten himself into something like this, today of all days. Here he was the day before Christmas and he, Arthur Pendragon, Crowned Prince and future king of Camelot, was scrubbing away at his own floor! It was all Merlin's fault.

Arthur didn't exactly remember how it started, but somehow the day before he and Merlin had gotten into a nasty fight. The source of their quarrel? They were arguing over how had a harder job. _I do, obviously!_ sulked Arthur to himself. _Being in charge of an entire country is much more difficult than anyone who hasn't done it can possibly imagine!_

Anyway, the fight had gotten so bad that Gaius had had to step in and mediate. Once he found out what they were fighting about, that's when things had gotten worse...much, much worse. Because it was then that he had come up with "The Switch". The idea was that for one day, and one day only (_Thank goodness for that! _thought Arthur) Arthur and Merlin would switch places. Merlin would act as the prince, while Arthur had to wait on him hand and foot.

Arthur didn't know why he had agreed to such a ridiculous scheme, but agree to it he had. Perhaps he had agreed to it because he wanted to prove to Merlin that being a servant wasn't as hard as he was always making it out to be.

At least Gaius hadn't insisted that Arthur and Merlin switch clothes as well. Arthur tried to imagine what he would look like in the brown jacket, trousers, and red or blue shirt Merlin always wore. Arthur shuddered at the mental image.

It might have eased his mind a little if he had known that Merlin was just as miserable as he was. Being a prince was much harder than Merlin had thought it would be. At first all he had had to do was order Arthur about, which had brought Merlin more than a little satisfaction. But then came the princely duties. Uther was away and wasn't due back until the next day. So Arthur had more duties then usual, and of course that fell to Merlin now. Gaius had somehow managed to talk the knights into playing along. They had perhaps relished the idea of having someone to pick on. Merlin was not the best when it came to the sword, and he had taken several beating during practice hour. Now, he had to hurry to the throne room for a council meeting. Merlin had no idea what to say or do.

He was pondering his sad situation, when turning a corner he literally ran into Gwen. "Oops! Sorry." He relaxed a little at the sight of her. Gwen had always been his friend and talking to her usually cheered him up.

Gwen smiled at him. "Merlin, aren't you going the wrong way? Are you usually polishing Arthur's armor at his time?"

"Actually no." He quickly explained about the switch and Gwen appeared to listen with interest.

"I see. Well, in that case," she curtsied, "sire." She said it with a straight face, but Merlin could see the sparkle in her eyes as she spoke. She turned to way past him.

"Can't you walk with me?" he asked. Having her company on his way to the council meeting would greatly ease his mind.

She shook her head. "No. You are a prince and I am a servant. We are not allowed to socialize."

Merlin watched her go with a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. This was going to be much harder than he had originally thought. He couldn't even talk to one of his closest friends! As he walked towards the throne room alone, he realized how difficult it must be for Arthur. Merlin only cared for Gwen as a friend, but Arthur was head over heels in love with her, even if he refused to admit it. _Poor, Arthur._ Merlin couldn't help thinking. 

"Carry this down to the kitchen for me. It's for the cook." Gaius told Arthur. Arthur had now finished "his" chores for Merlin and now had to run errands for Gaius. Arthur glanced at the thing Gaius had told him to carry. It looked like a giant pot and it definitely looked too bulky and heavy for just one person to carry. "And be quick about it!" Gaius added as he headed out the door.

Arthur sighed with frustration as he knelt to pick up the pot, but found it didn't want to budge. How on earth would Merlin have gotten this down to the kitchen? He was much skinnier than Arthur and had almost no muscle to speak of. Arthur pushed at the pot, hoping it would just be able to push it along. It didn't move. "Come on!" he yelled at it.

"Need help?" Arthur turned to see Gwen standing in the door, watching with an expression on her face that Arthur thought might be amusement. Arthur went red. _Oh no!_ thought Arthur. _What must she think of me?_ "Merlin told me about the switch."

Arthur groaned. It was bad enough having to go through with this, knowing that his knight all knew, but having Guinevere know was ten times worse. She came over and knelt by him. "Come on. I think the two of us can get it moved."

"Shouldn't I be doing this on my own?" asked Arthur.

Gwen smiled at him and Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. "Merlin and I help each other all the time."

"Oh." Arthur suddenly felt jealous. Between the two of them, they managed to get the pot onto its side and they started rolling it.

The got it all the way to the kitchen without incident, talking and laughing as they did so. Arthur felt his day getting better. The one upside to being a servant for a day was that he was able to talk to Guinevere without anyone thinking it was odd.

"What now?" asked Gwen as they left the kitchen. Arthur shrugged.

"I don't know. It depends on whether Gaius has more errands for me to do." The entered the hall had were just about to walk past the throne room, when the door burst open and Merlin came running out. He shut the doors behind him but not before Arthur and Gwen heard the sound of laughter coming inside. Merlin reddened and Arthur and Gwen guess the laughter was directed toward Merlin.

Merlin saw them and he reddened even more. No one spoke for a few seconds and Merlin and Arthur just started at each other, neither one sure what to say. "So?" Gaius appeared and Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen all turned to look at him. "Is it really as easy as either of you thought?" They both shook their heads. "I didn't think so. You want to switch back?"

"Yes!" said Merlin eagerly, though Arthur remained silent. "Arthur?"

"I guess. It's just..." he looked at Gwen and she nodded in understanding. Merlin and Gaius both knew what the problem was.

"But that's what comes with being a prince, I guess." Arthur sighed. "Yeah, I'll switch back." Gwen gave his arm an understanding squeeze.

"Phew!" said Merlin. "What a day!"

"I take it there won't be any more arguments like there were yesterday." said Gaius.

"None!" Arthur and Merlin said simultaneously.


	5. Morgana's Revenge Part 1

_Author's Note:Warning this chapter contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 13._

Night had fallen on Camelot and a shadow stood on the hillside looking down on the city. A young woman with white porcelain skin and raven black hair, her eyes bright with hate smiled cruelly as she looked on Camelot. For months she had planned this moment. Now everything and everyone would pay for what had happened to her...for what had happened to Morgause. Her sister was dead and Morgana was going to get her revenge.

They would pay, every last one of them. Uther. Her own father. The man who had killed so many of her kind without a moment's hesitation. The man who would have had her killed if he had known the truth about who she was. He was going to suffer like he had made so many suffer. He thought he suffered enough knowing his own daughter had turned against him, that is own daughter hated him, but his suffering was only beginning.

Arthur. Her half-brother. It was his fault that she was no longer queen. If he had just left well enough alone, he could have just continued to live peacefully in the woods.

Gwen. Her former hand-maiden who had once been her friend. She had betrayed Morgana. She had helped Sir Leon and escape. Her beloved prince had been more important than her mistress.

Sir Leon and the other knights. They were loyal to Uther and Arthur and that was reason enough to want them dead.

Merlin. The were no words to describe her furry when she thought of him. He was the one responsible for Morgause's death. How he had managed to kill so powerful a sorceress when he was nothing but a weak little serving boy Morgana couldn't understand. But he had killed Morgause, of that Morgana was absolutely certain. So no one was going to suffer as much as he was when she got her hands on him.

"Sleep well, Camelot." she muttered. "You know what day tomorrow is, but not what it will bring. Merry Christmas."

Merlin had a bad feeling the moment he awoke. It was Christmas day and he knew he should be excited, but something felt wrong. Very, very, wrong. He frowned as he tried to sense exactly what it was. Nothing. His brow furrowed in thought. "Get up, sleepy head!" Merlin turned to see Gwaine standing in the door way to his small room.

His friend was dressing in chain mail and the livery of the knights of Camelot. Even though he had been a knight for several months now, Merlin couldn't get used to the fact that Gwaine of all people was a knight. He had half expected Uther to discredit his son's decision and banish Gwaine again. Instead Uther said nothing about it at all and Gwaine, along with Lancelot, Eylan, and Percival were allowed to keep their titles.

"I'm up, I'm up." Merlin insisted, getting to his feet.

Leon, Lancelot, Eylan, and Percival were already in throne room when Gwaine and Merlin arrived with Gaius in tow. Uther and Arthur were both seated on thrones. Merlin scanned the room and spotted Gwen standing beside her brother. Merlin still couldn't believe her good fortune either. Apparently since her brother was now a knight that made her Lady Guinevere and a member of the court, another issue Uther didn't fight against.

As Uther stood to his feet, Merlin noticed how much better he looked. It had take several months but was almost fully recovered. But that was in body only, who knew what state his mind was in? "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" everyone responded.

"Yes, Merry Christmas indeed." There was a collective gasp and everyone turned to see Morgana standing in the door way, a sneer on her face. Uther went pale and nearly fell back onto his throne.

"Guards!" shouted Arthur immediately taking charge. The guards moved to grab Morgana, but she was too quick for them and before anyone knew what was happening, Morgana was holding Gwen in front of her with a knife to her throat.

"No!" shouted Arthur, Eylan, and Lancelot all at the same time.

"Tell them to back off, or I'll cut her throat." said Morgana.

Arthur looked helplessly at Gwen and she stared back at him unblinking. Arthur opened his mouth to give the order when, unnoticed to anyone, Merlin's eyes flashed gold and Morgana screamed in pain, suddenly dropping the red hot knife. Gwen pushed tore herself away from Morgana and the guards charged towards the latter.

She turned to flee, but found herself trip and fall to the ground as Merlin's eyes flashed again. She didn't even have time to get to her feet, before the guards grabbed hold of her. "Take her to the dungeons." Arthur ordered, his arms around Gwen as he held her tightly to him.

"This isn't over!" Morgana shrieked. "This isn't over!"

Merlin had the bad feeling that she was right. Lancelot looked at Gwen who was trying to reassure Arthur and her brother that she was alright then at Merlin and nodded in gratitude. Merlin nodded back.

"I'm afraid she's right." said Gaius, taking about Morgana.

"How did she even get in here?" asked Sir Leon. "Surely the guards would have noticed her." Merlin exchanged a brief look with Gaius as a sink feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Gaius nodded. It was time to tell them. Merlin opened his mouth to tell them the truth about Morgana, but Gwen beat him to it.

"She used magic." Uther had been sitting in silence ever since Morgana's appearance, sitting as if blind and deaf to everything that was going on around him, but at that single sentence he suddenly seemed to regain focus and he turned to stare at Gwen. In fact everyone was staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably.

"How do you know that?" asked Uther, his voice low and almost dangerous. Arthur put his arms around her once more as if to shield her from this father.

"I saw her use it...once."

"When was this?" asked Arthur, but not threateningly like his father, instead kind and gentle.

"It was while you were away on your quest to the perilous lands."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" asked Uther, rising from his throne, staring at her, eyes blazing with anger.

Gwen looked him squarely in the face and without flinching and without any sign of fear she replied, "And if I had would you have believed me?"

Uther blinked and felt his anger fade away and sadness replace it. "No," he answered softly. "I would not have."

"But why didn't you at least tell me?" asked Arthur. "I would have believed you."

"Would have you, Arthur?" asked Gwen gently. "Or would have tried to convince me that I was mistaken, or that I had been dreaming?"

Arthur sighed. Gwen was right. That was exactly what he would have done. "Sire," said Sir Leon, addressing both the king and prince. Both turned to face him as there was a sense of urgency in his voice. "If Morgana has magic, don't you think she could have escaped already?"

Arthur stared at him, realizing the full horror of what Sir Leon was saying. "Knights with me!" he shouted before rushing from the throne room, all of the knights falling in behind him.

"Arthur, no!" shouted Uther, suddenly afraid that Arthur was rushing to his dead. But his fear was groundless, cause Arthur and the knights turned a corner to see the guards that had been taking Morgana to the dungeons lying dead on the ground, pools of blood covered the ground and Morgana was nowhere to be seen.

To be continued... 


	6. Morgana's Revenge Part 2

_What fools!_ thought Morgana to herself as she made her way through the halls of the castle. Killing the guards that had held were had been a piece of cake. This was all too easy. Camelot would fall this very night and Morgana would once again be queen.

Yet, there was something bothering her. The knife. It had been nice and cool when she held against Gwen's throat, but then all of a sudden it had been burning hot. It could only mean one thing: that someone in that room had magic...and was using it against her.

But who? Morgana thought of everyone who had been in there. She knew it couldn't be Uther or Arthur. Both of them believed magic to be evil and would never use it. Gwen herself? No, it couldn't have been her. Gwen too was trapped in the belief that magic was bad. But then who?

A small malicious smile spread across her face as an idea came to her mind. _There's only one way to find out. Whoever used magic in the throne room was using it to protect Gwen. So, this person will have to use it to save her life._

"Dying?" Arthur felt numb. He stared at Gaius. "But how? She was perfectly fine this morning!" Merlin could only watch as Arthur suffered the worst possible news he could ever receive.

"I don't know, sire." said Gaius. "I only know that Gwen was suddenly taken ill and is dying. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do for her."

"May I go to her?" Arthur asked, his voice weak and shaky as he fought back the tears that were threatening to come. Gaius nodded and Arthur rushed off to Gaius's chambers where they had taken Gwen. Merlin followed behind unnoticed.

When they got there they arrived to see Sir Leon, Sir Gwaine, and Sir Percival trying to comfort Sir Eylan. Sir Lancelot stood a little ways away from the group, his head in his hands. Gwen lay on the bed, tossing and turning fitfully. The five knights all looked up when Arthur and Merlin entered the group.

Eylan went up to Arthur. Neither spoke, but instead they clasped each other in a firm embrace, sharing their sorrow together. The other knights all looked at each other and turned to leave. As Lancelot walked passed, Merlin whispered to him, "I'll do what I can." Lancelot nodded and then left. He sincerely hoped Merlin would be able to cure her. Even though he might lose her to Arthur, that would be infinitely preferable to losing her to death.

Gwen tossed and muttered Arthur's name. Arthur looked over at her as he and Eylan separated. Eylan glanced once at his dying sister and then left. Arthur didn't seem to notice Merlin's presence.

Arthur sat on a chair by Gwen's bedside and took her hand. "Guinevere..." he couldn't say any more than that and he burst out crying, his whole body shaking. Merlin put a hand on his shoulder, tears pouring from his own eyes.

Gwen had been the first friend he had made when he had arrived in Camelot and he had come to think of her almost as a sister. _She won't die! _he promised himself. _She won't! I'll cure her. I must._

Time passed and Arthur cried himself to sleep, his head resting against the bed. Merlin slowly moved passed him, careful not to make any noise that would wake him up. Then he laid his hand on Gwen's forehead and his eyes turned gold as he muttered some words. Gwen's tossing ceased and her fever seemed to abate and she slept peacefully. Merlin let out a sigh of relief.

Morgana had watched the entire scene, hidden by an invisibility spell that Morgause had once taught her. As long as she didn't move, no one could see her. She had watched as the knights entered the room and tried to comfort the distraught Eylan. She had watched as Arthur and Merlin had come in and she had watched as the knights left. She had watched with unusual patience as Arthur cried himself to sleep. She had waited for Merlin to leave or for something to happen. Then it did. The last person Morgana had ever suspected of magic had it. She would have guess Arthur capable of it before even daring to think Merlin was. She was so surprised that without thinking, she blurted out his name. "Merlin!"

Merlin whirled to face her, the blood draining for his face. How long had she been standing there? It had been a trap, Merlin realized. A trap to discover who it was that had made the knife burn. He instinctively looked over at Arthur and was relieved to see that the prince was still fast asleep.

Morgana just stared at him. "I don't believe it." she said finally. "You...you of all people! How long of you had magic?"

"All my life." he answered honestly. "Far longer than you."

"Traitor!" she spat. "You have magic just like me. Yet instead of fighting against the man who would see you dead if he knew the truth, you choose to protect him!"

He stood to his feet and looked her straight in the eye. "I told you once, Morgana, that magic is to be used for good. It is not given to us to use for our own selfish ends. Yes, Uther has killed many of our kind, but that does not make it right to in turn kill him in cold blood."

"I am defending our kind, Merlin."

"No, Morgana," said Merlin, "you are destroying our kind. It is people like you, people who use magic to hurt and betray others, it is people like that that make Uther think that magic can only be used for evil. You are doing our kind more harm then good."

"Tell me, Merlin," said Morgana, moving closer to him, "tell me you haven't ever used magic for your own ends."

"I have only ever used magic to defend, protect, and save those I care about." said Merlin. "Including you." he added softly.

Morgana froze. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"The time you fell down the stairs? The time you were dying? The time you overheard Uther confess to Gaius that you are is daughter? I healed you, Morgana. I saved your life. I could have just let you die. My life would have been so much easier if I had, but I choose not to. Can you honestly say you would have done the same if our places had been switched?"

Morgana wanted to believe Merlin was lying. She wanted to believe that he had just made the whole thing up. It would be so much easier to go on hating him then. But she couldn't. She knew he was telling the truth. She also knew the answer to his question. "No," she admitted, "I wouldn't have."

"That's what I thought." said Merlin, and Morgana sensed a certain sadness coming from him. It was if he regretted that fate had chosen different paths for them.

In that moment, that single moment, something extraordinary happened: Morgana began to cry. Her anger, her hatred it was suddenly gone. In its place were sorrow and remorse. She had begun to realize how much pain and how much suffering she had caused. Merlin stared at her in shock. She looked up at him, her face streaming with tears. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "Sorry for everything." Then she muttered a spell and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Merlin?" Merlin looked down to see Gwen, her eyes opened. "What happened?" she asked weakly.

"Morgana's revenge is no more." he answered simply.


	7. Maid To Be Queen

"Wake up, Eylan! It's Christmas!" Eylan's eyes flew open and he saw his little sister nudging him. Eylan jumped out of bed and grabbed Gwen's hand.

"Come on!" He said pulling her along. "Let's go wake Mother and Father!" The two children ran to over the bed were their parents were still sound asleep. "Wake up! It's Christmas!"

Tom groaned and his wife, Mary, laughed. "What did you expected, Tom? They are children after all." She smiled at her son and daughter and pulled them both into a hug.

Mary insisted that the children eat breakfast before opening any presents despite the fact that both of them loudly protested and claimed they weren't hungry. Yet, they dutifully eat the breakfast.

Once that was done, Eylan and Gwen opened their presents: a new doll for Gwen and a play sword for Eylan. Both child beamed as if they had been given the world. They had only a few minutes to enjoy their new toys before Mary had to head off to work. Both parents had to work even on Christmas.

Gwen often went with her mother while Eylan stayed behind and helped their father at their forge. Mother and daughter went hand in hand through the cold streets of Camelot until they came to the Manor. The Manor belonged to Sir Liam and Lady Anne and their only son: Leon.

Mary was one of the maids there and Gwen did as much as she could to help, even though she hadn't been officially hired there as a servant. When there wasn't much for her to do, she usually spent her time with Leon despite the fact that he was fifteen and she was only nine. He was like a second brother to her.

No sooner had they entered the Manor then Leon headed toward them. "Mother wants to see you in the dinning room. Both of you." he added quickly, giving Gwen a brotherly smile, which she returned.

Mary lead her daughter to the dinning room where they found Lady Anne was not alone. As the other person in the room turned towards them, Mary quickly curtsied and nudged her daughter to do the same. "Sire." _Sire? This must be the king! _Gwen realized. She had never seen him before.

"Ah, Mary, Gwen." said Lady Anne, pleased to see them. Then she turned towards the king. "This is the little girl I was telling you about, sire." Uther carefully scrutinized Gwen and then nodded.

"She'll do." he said simply. Lady Anne turned to face the confused Mary.

"His majesty has just adopted Gorlois's daughter, the Lady Morgana as his ward, and she is in need of a maid and I was more than happy to suggest Gwen for the position."

Mary gasped. "Gwen would be honored to take it. Thank you, my lady! Sire."

Later that afternoon, Mary and Gwen made their way to the castle. Gwen was feeling very nervous and not at all honored. The king had seemed so very big and imposing, and Gwen thought that he rarely smiled. To be perfectly honest, he frightened her.

Yet, she would do her best. She wanted to make her parents proud of her. So it was with an anxious heart that they were presented before in the throne room before the king. With him were two children both no more than a year or two older than she was.

The first was a girl with rave black hair and piercing eyes. She may have been young, but she was already showing signs of being the beauty that she would one day become. Looking at her just made Gwen feel even more nervous.

The second was a boy. Even though he was not yet a teenager, one could tell that here was a boy trained to lead. As Gwen looked at him at was if some part of her sensed that fate would one day bring them together. She was only nine, too young to understand that this self-assured boy before her would not only one day be the greatest king the world had even known, but that he would also be the love of her life, that she would one day rule by his side as his queen. All she knew was that for some reason, unknown to her, that she her nervousness was gone and that she felt confident and unafraid.

What she didn't know was at that moment when the prince laid eyes on her, Arthur was feeling something similar. He too didn't understand the feeling and even though it would be many years before he even began to really notice her, he suddenly felt a more confident and more at peace than he had ever felt before in his short life. It wasn't love at first sight, but it was that day, that moment that their fates were sealed and that the both took one step closer to their destiny.


	8. A Royal Triangle

_Author's Note: Okay, this one isn't Chrismas themed. This is more of an AU, "what if this happened..." sort of thing. Warning: contains spoilers for season 3, episode 6._

King Olaf found himself in a bit of a pickle. He had just learned of Prince Arthur Pendragon's engagement to Princess Elena and how was he to break the news to Vivian? It been more than a year since they had returned from Camelot and Olaf had hoped that over time Vivian would be able to forget about him.

He hopes had been in vain. Not only had Vivian not forgotten about Arthur, but her affection for him seemed to be getting stronger each and every passing day. He was all she ever talked about. It was Arthur this and Arthur that. If Olaf tried to change the subject Vivian would just revert it back to Arthur.

So how was he going to tell her Arthur was engaged? It would break her heart. But it had to be done. She had to be told. It would be wrong of him to let her go on dreaming about him, completely ignorant to the fact that he was about to get married.

Vivian burst through the door, a smile on her beautiful face and she was singing. It was obviously a love song and Olaf didn't need to be told who she was singing about. "Vivian, dear..." he began, but Vivian ignored him and continued to sing."There's something I need to tell you..." but she kept on singing. "It's about Arthur." he said finally, knowing that was the only way to get her attention.

Vivian immediately stopped singing. "Yes, Father?" she asked eagerly. "What about Arthur?"

"I've had news..."

"What news?"

"He's engaged...to be married."

The smile on Vivian's face disappeared and she sank down onto the next chair. "Engaged." she whispered the dreaded word and she burst into tears. "To...to who?" she asked through her tears.

"Princess Elena."

"When...when...is the...wedding?"

"Tomorrow."

"So soon?" Olaf only nodded. He put his arms around her and held her as she cried.

"No!" she shouted, pushing him away. "You must be mistaken. Arthur can't be engaged. He isn't! He loves me and only me!" She stood up and ran from the room.

_It can't be true. It isn't! _Vivian told herself over and over as she made her way to her chambers where she found her maid Celia waiting for her. "Is something wrong, your majesty?" asked Celia noticing Vivian's red eyes. Vivian nodded.

"Father says Arthur is engaged, but I don't believe him. Arthur's in love with me! With me, you hear?"

Celia grabbed a brush and began running it threw Vivian's hair. "Well, I've heard that it was an arranged marriage, you majesty."

"Arranged?" asked Vivian, her voice hopeful.

"Yes."

"Oh, Celia! You know what this means? It means that Arthur hasn't forgotten me! Oh, my poor Arthur! How he must be suffering! I must go to him at once and stop the wedding before it's too late!"

"But how?" asked Celia. "The wedding is tomorrow and it is a three day journey to Camelot."

Vivian thought about this. "Didn't my father arrest an old sorceress?"

"Yes, your majesty. She's in the dungeons. She's going to be executed first thing tomorrow morning." Vivian nodded and without another word raced to the dungeons.

The sorceress was an old woman and she didn't even look like she was trying to escape. Vivian shooed away the guards. "I'll make a deal with you." she told the sorceress. "If you get me to Camelot by tomorrow, I don't really care how, I'll see to it that your life is spared. What do you say?"

The sorceress mulled this over. "Very well, Princess. But I must go with you as it is the only way that you can come back in time to spare my life."

Vivian agreed to this. She'd agree to anything to get to her beloved Arthur.

Arthur was miserable. It was his wedding day, a day that was supposed to be the happiest in a man's life, yet for him it was absolutely the worse. Marriage was supposed to be based on love, yet here he was getting ready to marry a woman he barely knew, let alone loved.

It might have been easier to go ahead with this if he hadn't been in love with someone else. Yet he was, making it much harder than anyone would have suspected.

Poor Guinevere. What was she going to do? He knew it would be as much a torment for her as it would be for him. How could he do this?

As he stood at the alter, he thought of what Merlin had just said. His servant may be an idiot at times, but he was an idiot that every now and then said something resembling wisdom. Merlin was right, he was mad.

Was it too late to back out? Elena was now coming down the aisle toward him. What would his father think? She was now standing across from him. He took her hands. Was he doing the right thing?

He didn't have time to decide when the doors to the great hall were suddenly thrown open. "I object!" Heads turned and Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen could not believe their eyes. There was Lady Vivian running down the aisle toward them. "I object!" she repeated.

_What on is she doing here?_ Gwen wondered.

_**How**__ did she get here? _Merlin wondered.

Arthur didn't really came as to either one of those points, all he knew as that he had been unexpected saved from having to marry Princess Elena.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Lord Godwin.

"I object!"

"Yes, we got that." said Lord Godwin. "But who are you and why do you object?"

"I am Vivian, daughter of King Olaf and I objected because Arthur does not love Princess Elena. He loves me!" She had now reached the alter and she was scowling at Elena. Merlin hid a chuckle. Uther groaned.

"Is this true?" said Godwin turning to Arthur. Arthur looked from Lord Godwin, to Elena, to Vivian, to his father, to Merlin, to Gwen, and then back at Lord Godwin unsure how to answer.

Only half of what Vivian had said was actually true, he didn't love Elena, but the other half was false, he didn't love Vivian either. If he said yes, he would get out of marrying Elena but then Vivian would still be after him. If he said no, he would still have to marry Elena.

"Yes and no." he said finally. Lord Godwin raised an eyebrow.

"Explain."

"I don't love your daughter, but neither do I love Lady Vivian." Vivian stared at him stunned and Gwen suddenly felt very sorry for her. If only there were a way to remove the enchantment on her.

"Then which princess do you love?" asked Lord Godwin.

"None." said Arthur honestly. He was relieved Lord Godwin had used the word _princess_ as opposed to _woman._ Gwen smiled, she knew exactly what was going through Arthur's mind.

"No!" wailed Vivian, throwing herself at Arthur and wrapping her arms around him. "What's happened to you, my love? Has someone turned you against me? Magic! It must be! Someone's put a spell on you!"

Merlin nearly laughed at the irony, but the look on Arthur's face stopped him. Arthur stared at Vivian in pity. "I am sorry." he whispered. Gwen came forward and gently pried Vivian off of him.

"Come, my lady." she said kindly. She took Vivian's hand and gently led her from the throne room, still weeping and sobbing.

Uther let out a sigh of relief. "Now that that's taken care of let's proceed with the wedding."

"No." said Arthur, Elena, and Lord Godwin all at once. Uther looked at them in surprise.

"Surely you're not going to let a distraction like that prevent the wedding."

"Uther," said Godwin, "Arthur does not love Elena, and neither does she love him. I will not force either one into a union that would make them unhappy."

"But..." began Uther.

"No buts." said Godwin. "I will always be your friend and alley, Uther, even though our children are not married. Times are changing. This is for the best."

Uther sighed and nodded reluctantly. He turned to leave and Godwin and Elena followed him out. "You'd have thought." said Merlin walking over to Arthur. "Saved by Lady Vivian."

Arthur nodded. "Poor girl."

Merlin agreed. "Yeah, poor girl." 


	9. Morgana's Redemption Part 1

_Author's Note: Sequel to "Morgana's Revenge"_

Another year had come and gone and with it many changes, but none so important as the change that seemed inevitable. Uther was dying. He had never fully recovered the shock of Morgana's betrayal and though he had been physically healthy, his mental state was not. And so it was that on the 24th of December, Uther Pendragon died, leaving the kingdom to his son.

Through out the city the call went up. "The king is dead! Long live the king!" Everywhere the word was spread. Even to the furthest corner of the land.

On a hill top looking over the city, a young woman wept. Her hair was tangled, her fingers cracked and worn, hardly anyone would have recognized her as Morgana, Uther's daughter, the once queen of Camelot, and a traitor. Morgana didn't care how she looked. All she knew as that her father was dead...and that it was her fault.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. "I am so, so, sorry!" She knew the words were hallow. Nothing she could say could undo what she had done. She had hurt everyone who had truly loved her. Arthur, Gwen, Gaius, Merlin. They must all hate her now and she didn't blame them. She deserved to be hated. She deserved death.

Morgana looked at the knife she held in her hand and not for the first time did she contemplate killing herself with it. It was the same knife that Arthur had given her from her birthday almost two years before. She put the point to her heart, but something stopped her. Something always did. She didn't know what it was, it was like a feeling that her part in the world was not yet over. She sighed and let the knife fall from her fingers.

She looked at the castle. There were people there that she loved more than anything. Arthur, her brother. Gwen, her forever loyal maid, Gaius the kindly old physician, and Merlin, the one person who knew her better than anyone. They may hate her, but she would do anything to keep them safe. It would not undo what she did, but she felt that it would help atone for her crimes.

Morgana opened her eyes and realized that she must have fallen asleep. She looked up at the sky and noticed that it was not yet dawn, but it was getting close. She sighed and rose to her feet, then froze. Was she imagining things or was that the sound of horses headed her way? It was. Who could that be at this time of day?

There was no one for her to hide so she quickly mutter an spell, making herself invisible to any she did not wish to see her. She had only done it time when the two horses and their rides came into view. She hide a gasp of surprise. It was Arthur and Gwen. Tears rose to her eyes.

She wanted to run to them, to tell them how sorry she was and then let them pronounce her judgment, cause she knew they could never forgive her. Yet she stayed where she was.

Arthur alighted first and then helped Gwen to dismount. Morgana could hardly believe how beautiful her maid looked. She was not dressed like a maid anymore, but instead was wearing the most beautiful gown Morgana had ever seen. How anyone could take Gwen for a common servant was suddenly beyond her. Then there was Arthur. Morgana had never seen a more handsome man. Arthur. Her brother. He was the only family she had left in the world and he hated her.

_He's the king of Camelot now._ she realized. He would make a good king. Even when she had plotted against him she had known that.

"It's so beautiful." said Gwen staring a the sun as it began to rise.

"Not as beautiful as you." said Arthur, not taking his eyes off of her for a moment. She smiled and blushed but said nothing. "I promised you once that when I was king things would be different." She turned to look at him. "Well, I am king now, even if I haven't been officially crowned yet. So," here he knelt on one knee and took both of her hands, "will you Guinevere be agree to become my wife, my queen?'

"Yes." said Gwen, tears forming in her eyes. "Yes, I will!" Morgana's eyes sparkled with unspeakable joy as she watched them. She brushed a way a tears as Arthur took Gwen in his arms and kissed her.

Merlin could hardly believe it was here. Today was the day that Gwen would become queen! He smiled. Gwen was the sweetest girl and she deserved to be queen. Merlin had said that to Arthur shortly after Arthur told him about their engagement and Arthur had nodded in agreement. "Not just queen of Camelot," added Arthur, "but queen of the whole world!"

Arthur had been afraid that the rest of Camelot would not share their view, but his fears had proved groundless. Gwen had endeared herself to the people this last year and everyone loved her and they had been thrilled at the news that she was going to be their Gwen and everyone rejoiced.

There was only one person who was not glowingly with happiness at the news: Lancelot. The young knight had tried to convince himself that he was over Gwen and that she would be better off with Arthur. Yet he was still miserable when he learned of the engagement. Only Merlin knew how he was feeling, but as Arthur's best friend, Lancelot did not feel like he could count on him for sympathy.

If he hadn't been a knight and required to attend her crowning, he would have fled the city then and there. All the other knights were only to happy to attend the ceremony. Sir Elyan, Sir Leon, Sir Percival, and Sir Gwaine had spent the last few days discussing all of Gwen's virtues that would make her a good queen.

Merlin thought he was going to burst with happiness as Gwen walked down the aisle toward Arthur. His smile grew as Arthur placed the crown on her head and declared her Queen Guinevere. Then they took their seats on the their thrones. Cheers and applause broke out.

Everyone was trying to get to Gwen to congratulate her, so Merlin decide it would best to give his in later in private. He watched Arthur and Gwen with a contented smile. "This is how it was meant to be." he told Gaius and the old man nodded in agreement.

Merlin turned to say something else, but froze when he spotted something out of the corner of his eyes. It couldn't be. A figure stood in the corner of the room, hidden from view, watching Gwen. _Morgana._ She quietly slipped out of the room and Merlin excused himself and quickly followed her.

Morgana knew it was foolish of her, but she could not stay away. The ceremony had happened exactly as she had dreamed it would and her heart swelled with pride and joy for her old friend and former maid. She had slipped in quietly when no one was looking and she had slipped out again.

Now she was out of the castle and soon she would be out of the castle. Just when she thought she was going to make it out unseen, she heard foot steps behind her. A lump rose in her throat and she began to run. Whoever was behind her picked up speed.

Morgana was only three feet from the gate leading out of the city when the person behind her tackled her to the ground. She struggled as the person pulled her to her feet and dragged her over behind one of the buildings. She turned around to face her attacker and froze. _Merlin._

To be continued...


	10. Morgana's Redemption Part 2

Morgana just stared at Merlin, waiting for him to speak, to do anything. She didn't even try to run. She was tired of that. She waited for him to scream at her, to alert the guards to her presence, to try and blast her with his magic. She knew he could and she had no doubt he would. She waited for him to do it.

But he didn't. Instead he did the last thing she expected. He smiled. Not a cold, malicious "now I've got you!" kind of smile. It was a real genuine, warm, friendly smile. "Hello, Morgana." he said gently. "What are you doing here?"

Morgana couldn't answer, she was too stunned. The one person who had more cause than anybody else to hate her was actually smiling at her! He didn't hate her. That one thought made her burst into tears. And then Merlin did something even more surprising: he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Shhhhh." he gently hushed her. "It's okay. Everything going's to be alright." Morgana just held on to Merlin for dear life as she cried. Eventually she was able to calm herself and she gently pushed herself away from him.

"You don't hate me?"

Merlin looked at her in surprise, as if the idea of hating her had not even crossed his mind, which in all honesty in hadn't. "No."

"Well, you should...after everything that I've done. I've betrayed you, Arthur, and Gwen. I've hurt all three of you and even tried to get you killed. My own father is dead because of me!"

Merlin reached out and gently placed a hand on her arm. "Morgana," he said kindly, "I have never, ever hated you. Even when you did try and get us killed the only emotion I felt towards you was sorrow...sorrow and pity that someone could become that bitter and hateful. I understood why you hated Uther. I've had magic all my life and I know what it is like to be alone. I was sadden that one of my own kind should be reduced to such a state."

"If you don't hate me, I'm sure Arthur and Gwen do."

"No, you're wrong about that." said Merlin. "It shows you how little you know them. They know you have magic Morgana and like me they now know why you did what you did, thought they don't agree with it. If you'd give them a chance..."

"No!" Morgana interrupted. "I don't want them to see me. I'd rather they think I'm dead."

"Morgana..." Merlin began, but she cut him off again.

"No, Merlin. I deserve to be hated, to be put to death. I'd rather they hate me and you too." Merlin reached out to touch her again, but she drew back. She turned and headed out of the city without once looking back at him.

"Morgana?" Gaius gasped. "She was here?"

Merlin merely nodded and told the old physician about their conversation. "She's changed, Gaius. So much so that she feels that she isn't worthy of love and kindness. She believes she deserves to be die."

"Then I pity her. Will you tell Arthur?" Merlin shook his head.

"No, I will respect her wish. I'll let them think she's dead."

Gaius nodded. "Yes, perhaps that is for the best after all."

_Queen Guinevere._ Gwen shook her head, she still couldn't believe it. She had of course known that if she married Arthur she would have become queen, but the thought hadn't really sunk in...until now. She paced the length of her new chambers and looked in the mirror. The crown was still on her head.

Gwen examined herself closely and had to admit that she certainly looked the part of queen, but was she really fit to be queen? She didn't know anything about how to run a country. She almost wanted to go back on her decision.

But there was Arthur. She loved him more than anything and if she had to put up with being queen to be his wife then so be it. He had looked so happy when he had placed the crown on her head and pronounced her "Queen Guinevere" that she would do anything to make him that happy every day for the rest of his life.

"Nervous?" Gwen turned to see her husband, standing in the doorway, a look of absolute joy on his face. _Merlin's right. She was made to be queen. _He approached her and held out his hand, which she instantly took. He bent and kissed her.

"A little." she admitted. "To be perfectly honest, Arthur, I don't think I'm fit to be queen and I think you've made a poor choice."

"Nonsense." said Arthur. "You, Guinevere, are more fit to be queen then most women who were born knowing that they would one day be one. Besides, I love you and that is the reason I wanted to marry you, not because you are or are not fit to be queen."

Gwen smiled. "Then I am content. Being your wife is more than enough."

Arthur smiled back and together they left her chambers and went to the battlements where they looked out over the city. There below a huge crowd had gathered. As soon as they beheld their new king and queen, the people brow out into cheers. "See?" he whispered. "They love you. That shows that you are indeed fit to be queen."

Hidden in the crowd, a figure did not cheer with the rest of them. A young boy no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. Mordred. His lips curled in a snarl. His snarl turned into a look of out right hatred when the knights of Camelot joined the king and queen on the battlements, with them was Merlin.

_Emrys. _

On the battlements, Merlin's smile wavered. He sensed a malevolent, magical presence down in the crowd below. He frowned and closed his eyes trying to locate it. "Merlin?"

He opened his eyes to see Lancelot who was standing next to him on the right staring at him in concern. "You alright?" he whispered.

"Something's not right." Merlin whispered back. "A can sense a strong magical presence and it's not friendly."

"Can you tell where it's coming from?"

Merlin shook his head. "Only that's coming from below...somewhere in the crowd."

_"Hello, Emrys."_

Merlin froze. _"Mordred?"_

"Correct. I told you once that I would never forgive and that I would never forget, and I have kept my word. You will pay, Emrys."

"Don't do this, Mordred. If it's me you want than it's me you can have, but not here, not now."

"You are not the only one I have a score to settle with, Emrys. The Pendragons must pay as well."

"No!" Too late. Screams tore threw the crowd below and Merlin felt sick to his stomach.

To be continued...


	11. Morgana's Redemption Part 3

Morgana was still shaking from her encounter with Merlin. She kept seeing his face as he said he didn't hate her. _Why not, Merlin? Why not? _She could not understand it. After everything she had done, and everything she had tried to do, he should hate her, he should!

_"Hello, Emrys." _Morgana froze. _Emrys?_ That was not a name she had ever heard before, but where had it come from? There was no one around and she gaped as she realized that she had heard it in her mind. Whoever it was was not talking to her, but to someone else. Yet she knew that voice. Where had she heard it before?

_"Mordred?"_ That was Merlin, Morgana would know him anywhere. _Mordred?_ It couldn't be! She thought of the small boy she had hid in chambers what seemed ages ago. He was in Camelot?

_"Correct. I told you once that I would never forgive and that I would never forget, and I have kept my word. You will pay, Emrys."_

Morgana suddenly felt really chilly, but it had nothing to do with the weather. Only a small part of her registered the fact that Mordred was calling Merlin "Emrys", but she was more concerned with what that last sentence. _You will pay._ Morgana didn't know what Merlin had done, but she was certain of one thing. He was in danger.

_"Don't do this, Mordred." _Merlin sound desperate, almost pleading. _"If it's me you want, then it''s me you can have, but not here, not now."_

"You are not the only one I have a score to settle with, Emrys. The Pendragons must pay as well." The chilly feeling grew. _The Pendragons. Arthur! Gwen!_

_"No!"_ She heard Merlin scream the word, but it was too late. From both Mordred's and Merlin's minds she could hear the screams of the towns people.

"No!" She turned and ran back towards the city, praying that she wasn't too late. She had to stop Mordred. She no longer cared if Arthur and Gwen saw her, she had to stop him! She couldn't bear the thought of losing Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin. She would do whatever it took to save them.

The people screamed and ran as Mordred held aloft a giant ball of fire. Merlin saw it and saw to his horror that it was aimed, not at him, but at Arthur and Gwen. Time seemed to slow down, as Merlin pushed past Lancelot and the other knights. Arthur had only just time to realize what was happening when he felt Merlin knock him and Gwen to ground and a mere second later the fire ball flew past, barely missing the top of Merlin's head.

Merlin had expected the ball to crash into the wall and set the castle a flame, but instead it just turned around and started coming towards them again. He groaned. Then a wet blanket was flung over the ball and Merlin looked up to see Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Elyan, and Percival tried to hold the ball back with the blanket. Even though the blanket was soaked, it took only a few second for the ball to burn its way through.

But those few seconds were all Merlin needed to get Arthur and Gwen to their feet and through the door leading into the hall. The ball ignored the knights, instead it turned to chase after Merlin. Even though they had no idea how they were going to stop it, the knights were right behind it. 

Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin rushed out into the courtyard where they found Mordred waiting. The fireball which was only seconds behind them suddenly avoided them at the last second and flew over to Mordred who caught it as easily as if had been a ball of wood and only fourth the size. The knights soon followed.

No one spoke, instead Arthur and the knights all drew their swords. Mordred only smiled. "Who are you?" Arthur asked finally.

"Don't you recognize me? Surely you couldn't forget the young boy you helped sneak out of Camelot three years ago?" Arthur's eyes widened in sudden recognition.

"Mordred." The boy nodded.

"But why?" demanded Arthur. "Why are you doing this?"

Mordred sneered at him. "Why? You are the son of Uther Pendragon and you have the audacity to ask me why!" Mordred drew his arm back and got ready to fling the fire ball at them once again, but then suddenly it fizzled and died. Mordred glared at Merlin.

"It wasn't me." Merlin said simply, wishing that it had been. Arthur looked at him in puzzlement.

"What wasn't you?" he asked.

"Yes," said Mordred, "go on tell him...Emrys."

Sir Leon gasped. "Emrys?" Arthur turned to him. "When the Druids found me...I...over heard them talking. They mentioned something about a prophecy...about someone called Emrys. The Druids believed he would be the greatest sorcerer the world has ever known that that he would help bring magic back into the land."

Arthur looked at Merlin and then back at Mordred. "And you think Merlin is this Emrys?" Arthur looked as if he were about to burst out laughing. The idea was ridiculous. Just then he noticed that Mordred, Merlin, and indeed Lancelot did not look so amused. "Merlin?" he asked, a sudden fear that he couldn't explain began to take hold of him.

Merlin couldn't look him in the face. He sensed that it was time for the truth to be revealed, but he was worried about how Arthur was going to react. "Merlin!" Arthur spoke sharply and Merlin finally looked up at him. "Merlin, tell me once and for all...tell me you don't have magic."

Merlin just blinked and that blink just gave it all away. Arthur backed away from him. "You do." he whispered. "You...you traitor!"

"I...I didn't want..."

"Get away from me!"

"He saved your life." All eyes were now on Lancelot and the others all gasped as they understood that Lancelot had known. "It was not I that killed that griffin, sire. That was Merlin. He also saved us when we escaping from the wildren. It was he that emptied the Cup of the Life it contained, destroying Morgana's immortal army. If he did not have magic, Camelot would have fallen long ago."

"Indeed it would have." Mordred sneered, regaining everyone's attention. "He is a traitor, but not you, Arthur Pendragon. He's a traitor to his one kind."

"No, that is you, Mordred." said Merlin. "You are a traitor to the beliefs of the Druids. The Druids believe in peace and harmony, not vengeance. They believe that magic is to be used for good, not evil."

"No!" shouted Mordred, full of rage. "You will die! All of you!" He snapped his fingers and another fireball formed, but just as quickly as the last one it vanished.

"Stop it, Mordred." Everyone froze and then turned slowly to see another person watching them.

"Morgana." Arthur whispered her name. He wasn't sure what he felt at the sight of her. Gwen felt that she was about to burst into tears.

Mordred smiled at her, but then the smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of puzzlement. "What do you mean stop? You're the one brought Camelot to its knees!"

"Yes," said Morgana sadly, "and I was wrong." Even though she was addressing Mordred she looked at Arthur and Gwen as she spoke. "I was so very wrong. Words cannot describe how sorry I am. Magic is to be used for good and I was a fool. It took Merlin to make me see that." Here she turned and smiled at him. He smiled back.

"No!" said Mordred. "They deserve to die!"

"No, Mordred." said Morgana gently. "If anyone here deserves to die, it is me and me alone. Let them go." Mordred just glared at her.

"I don't believe you. You of all people!" With that he turned and ran. Morgana sighed and turned to leave, but Arthur grabbed her arm. "Morgana." His voice had the same tone that Merlin had had earlier. She looked at him and tears formed in both their eyes. She burst into sobs, and Arthur caught her in a hug.

"I'm sorry! So sorry!" Gwen stepped forward and joined them in the hug. "It's alright, Morgana." she said gently. "We all forgive you."

Arthur nodded. "Indeed we do." He looked over Morgana's shoulder at Merlin. "I'm sorry, Merlin. Lancelot is right you have saved us so many times. Will you forgive me?" Merlin smiled.

"Of course, sire."

"Arthur." The king smiled at his friend and then turned his attention back to Morgana. "Welcome, home."


	12. Christmas Blues

_Author's Note: Sequel to "Maid To Be Queen"_

Gwen could hardly believe that it had been a year since she first began to work as the Lady Morgana's maid. Time seemed to have flown so quickly. A whole year and it was Christmas Day, and this time as Morgana's maid she was required to wait on her at the annual Christmas Banquet. Last year she hadn't been able to because she hadn't been hired until after the Banquet.

Gwen strode happily through the halls, looking forward to it. Her thoughts were not on where she was going and she accidentally ran into the prince. That brought her head out of the clouds. "Sire! I'm so sorry!" She cast her eyes on the ground, expecting to be chastised.

"That's alright. Just watch where you're going next time." Gwen looked up, as that last sentence had not been said harshly, but rather was one giving advice to someone else. Gwen risked a small smile and curtsied.

"Yes, of course, sire."

Neither moved nor spoke for several seconds. They couldn't put into words, but they always felt so comfortable around each other. They were to young to understand the grand destiny that awaited them...together.

"Gwen!" Gwen and Arthur turned to see Elyan heading towards them accompanied by a couple of guards.

"Elyan? What are you doing here? Elyan, what's wrong?" she asked suddenly as she noticed that his eyes were red as if from crying.

"It...it's mother...she's dying." Gwen felt the world collapse out from under her and she nearly fell to the floor, but much to everyone's surprise, not to mention his own, Arthur caught her. "She's ill," Elyan continued, shaking with sobs. "Very ill. Will you come?"

Gwen was too numb and couldn't speak. "Of course she will." said Arthur. "I'll make her excuses to Morgana. And I'll fetch Gaius." Elyan nodded and took his sister's hand, together they left the castle and headed home.

Mary was lying her bed, barely moving, barely breathing when Gwen and Elyan arrived. Gwen ran to her mother and took her hand. "Mother?"

"I don't know if she can even hear you." said Tom, laying a hand on his daughter's shoulder. Gwen looked up at him and saw that he too had been crying. She burst into tears and he wrapped his arms around her. There was a knock on the door and Elyan went to answer it.

It was Leon with Gaius in tow. The old man immediately began examining Mary. His face looked grave. 'I don't think there is anything I can do."

Elyan sobbed and Leon put a arm around the younger boy's shoulder. All through the day they waited, hoping against hope for some sort of sign or miracle. It never came and at three o'clock in the afternoon, Mary passed away. "This is the worst Christmas ever." sobbed Gwen, clinging to her father.

Gaius made his condolences and gently lead Leon out. Gwen, Tom, and Elyan huddled together, taking comfort in each other's arms.

"Dead?" Morgana looked at Leon. "Are you sure?" Leon nodded. As soon as he and Gaius had left Tom's house, he had taken it upon himself to deliver the news to Prince Arthur and Lady Morgana. The two children looked at each other and then back at the teenage boy.

"Is Gwen alright?" Morgana asked.

"I don't think so, but I wouldn't expect her to come back to work for at least a couple of days." said Leon. Morgana nodded. She understood. She liked Gwen and considered her a friend. The door to Morgana's chambers opened and Morgana looked up in surprise as Gwen herself entered the room.

"Gwen! What are you doing here? You should be at home."

Gwen wiped a tear from her eyes. "No. Home is...too unbearable right now." Morgana put her arms around her and Gwen though surprised, yielded to the embrace and cried on her shoulder. Leon and Arthur exchanged glanced and discreetly moved towards the door.

As he walked passed the two girls, Arthur caught Gwen's eye and mouthed "I'm sorry." He then turned and followed Leon out of the room.


	13. Chicken A La King

Arthur couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned. There was something...something that he was forgetting and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His mind would not let him rest until he figured out what it was. Had he forgotten to have Merlin polish his armor? He opened an eye and glanced on the table. Nope. There was the armor all nice and shinny. So what was it?

He hadn't forgotten to tell Merlin what he wanted for breakfast, did he? No, that wasn't it either, but Arthur suddenly felt that he was on the right track. It had something to do with food. Food...Arthur racked his brains but still couldn't come up with the answer. Just when he thought he was finally about to fall asleep, he jerked fully away and sat bolt up right. He had it!  
"I never made Guinevere dinner!"

He lay back down and groaned. He knew he didn't _have _to make her dinner, after all she wasn't expecting him to, but Arthur felt obligated to. But how? Arthur had never cooked a day in his life and it would more than likely turn out to be a complete disaster.

He was going to have to learn how. But from who? He couldn't ask the palace cook. She would want to know why and then she would probably go running to his father. That wouldn't work. He couldn't ask Guinevere herself as that would defeat the purpose, as it was supposed to be a surprise. That left only two people that Arthur could think of: Gaius and Merlin. 

Gaius would probably agree to teach him, but then Gaius like the cook would want to know why. He knew the old physician would not run to his father, but then Arthur wasn't sure he wanted Gaius knowing how he left about Guinevere. That left only Merlin. Merlin already knew how Arthur felt about her so that wasn't a problem, but Arthur knew that his servant would more likely than not only laugh at him. He grimaced.

_No, _Arthur told himself, _just wouldn't do it. She doesn't expect him to and I don't have to._ Arthur closed his eyes and tried once more to fall back asleep. But then he heard her voice. _"Because I thought you had shown some humility. I thought you had done something kind for me, even though I'm just a servant. A good king should respect his people no matter how they are."_

Arthur sighed and gave in. He would ask Merlin to teach him how to cook. He had to do this, for Guinevere. Who cared if Merlin laughed at him? That's what Arthur was trying to tell himself, but if he were perfectly honest with himself, he cared quite a lot. 

The next morning, Arthur watched as Merlin went about his chores. He pondered how to bring up his request. Nothing that he thought of seemed right. He fidgeted nervously. Merlin glanced in his direction and raised an eyebrow in question. "Something wrong, sire?"

Arthur shook his head. "Merlin...do you know how to cook?" Merlin blinked, surprised by the question.

"Yes, though I haven't done it since I've arrived in Camelot. Why?" he asked suddenly suspicious and afraid that Arthur would have him starting cook all his meals in addition to all his other chores.

"Because...I...I want to learn how." Merlin's jaw dropped. Had he heard right? Had Arthur Pendragon, the prince of Camelot, and the most pratty young man Merlin had ever known just said that he wanted to learn how to cook. "Don't laugh!" said Arthur giving him a hard stare.

"The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, sire." said Merlin, and in all honesty, it hadn't. Though now that Arthur mentioned it, it was pretty funny and he hid a smile. "May I ask why you want to learn how to cook?"

"I realized I never made Guinevere dinner."

"Ah!" said Merlin. "And you want to learn how to cook so you can?"

"It is absolutely ridiculous, isn't it?"

Merlin shook his head. "Not at all, sire." Merlin agreed to teach him and so that day Arthur received his first lesson in the culinary arts.

Because of their busy schedules, Arthur and Merlin could only have a cooking lesson for about half-an-hour a day. Weeks passed and even though Merlin wasn't the best cook himself, Arthur's understanding of it grew. He even began to enjoy it. Of course there were plenty of accidents.

One time, a bag of flour exploded covering them both with flour and Arthur had panicked because he had to attend a state dinner in less than an hour and he didn't think he'd get cleaned up in time. Then another time, Arthur had burned himself while boiling water and he had to wear his sleeves down for a week to cover up the burn. Yet all in all it was a good experience and Arthur learned much from it.

Finally, three months later, Arthur left he was ready to prepare the meal. It was a three course meal, a small salad, with a bowl of soup, chicken, and a pastry. Arthur pretended to be sick so that he could get out of his duties in order to slave away at it all day.

Gwen was busy in Morgana's chambers when Merlin found her. "I have a surprise for you!" he announced a grin on his face. Gwen cast him a questioning look.

"What is it?"

"Oh, come on, if I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, would it?" He came forward and placed a blindfold over her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Just trust me." Once the blindfold was secure, he gently lead her out of the room and to Arthur's chambers. Merlin was relieved that there weren't any guards around as he would have to explain what he was doing.

Gwen couldn't see a thing through the blindfold and she wondered where she was. She heard the sound of a door shutting behind her. "Merlin?" No reply. "Merlin?"

She heard someone come forward and she felt the blindfold being removed. Once it was gone she blinked in surprise. "Arthur?" He smiled at her. "What's going on?"

"May I present," he moved around so she could see what was behind him, "your dinner."

Gwen laughed. "Arthur!" She stared at all the food. "Did you make this yourself?" His grin gave it away. "You did!" She sat down in the chair he offered her. "But...why?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep one night and I realized that I had never made you dinner when I was staying with you, so here it is."  
He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

"You really didn't have to do this." she told him, as she helped herself to some of the food.

"Yes, I did. I felt I owed it to you." He watched anxiously as Gwen took a bite. He didn't trust in his cooking skills no matter how much Merlin assured them he was a good cook.

"Arthur, this is delicious!" He grinned.

"Really?"

"Really!" They ate the rest of their dinner in silence and then Gwen helped him clear way the dishes. "I thought you said you couldn't cook."

"I couldn't," said Arthur, "but I've taken some lessons."

"From who?"

"Merlin." Gwen laughed.

"I wish I could have been there for that. It must have been entertaining."

"It was." said Arthur, his grin broadening.

"But that most have taken you a while."

"Three months."

"Three months?" Gwen stared at him in disbelief. "You've been planning this moment for three months?" He nodded. "Arthur Pendragon, who are a wonder!"

"Thanks."

Gwen smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for such a wonderful meal, Arthur." 


	14. Uther's Choice

_Author's Note: Warning! Spoilers for season ficlet has a T rating._

"Sire?" Uther Pendragon looked up from his paperwork to see Vivienne standing timidly in the door way. Although she had addressed him, she was staring at the ground, unable to met his gaze. Uther couldn't blame her. Lately whenever they were in the same company together, he found himself looking anywhere but at her. They had an unspoken agreement to ignore each other. It had been that way ever since their affair.

Neither one of them had meant for that to happen. It just had. Gorlois had been away and it had been more than a year since Ygraine's death and although Uther took pride in his little Arthur, he had been lonely, lonely for female companionship. He had Vivienne had just been having a friendly conversation and they next thing they knew they were in bed together.

The memory of that night and the shame they both felt the next morning, burned in Uther's mind and he knew Vivienne felt the same way. Which is why they had intentionally ignored each other, as if my avoiding one other would erase what had happened. But it never would. They knew that and they could never think of each other in the same way again.

He didn't blame Vivienne, neither did he harbor any resentment towards her. He knew he was as much to blame as she was. They both were at fault.

So of course, seeing Vivienne standing there was something of a surprise and Uther instantly felt something was wrong, otherwise she would never come to him. "Yes? What is it?"

With her eyes still cast on the ground, Vivienne turned and close the door behind her. "There...there is something I have to tell you." Even though she wasn't looking at him, Uther could see tears running down her cheeks and she was trembling. He waited, knowing that it was best not to push her. She would say it when she was ready. "I...I'm...I'm pregnant."

The paper Uther had been holding, fell to the ground and Uther's eyes widened in shock. He felt numb. He didn't want to, but he knew he had to ask, "Is it mine?"

Vivienne nodded. "I believe so, sire. I've suspected for sometime, even before Gorlois came home, but I was only able to confirm it this morning."

Uther felt a lump rise in his throat. Pregnant and with his child no doubt. Uther bit his lip unsure what to say and do. "Have...have you told Gorlois?"

She shook her head. "Not yet." She finally looked at him. "What are going to do?" Uther rose from his seat and after a moment's hesitation gently put his arms around her.

"I don't know." he answered honesty. "If...if you told Gorlois you were pregnant, do you think he would believe it to be his child?"

"I don't see why he shouldn't." Uther nodded and then pulled away from her.

"Then let him believe that. It...it's for the best. The truth would break his heart, probably even kill him." Vivienne nodded in agreement and then left. Uther sighed. He was going to have another child. 

Uther was woken by the sound of servants hurrying to and fro. He heard whispers outside his room and he wondered why anyone would be up and about in the middle of the night. He opened the door in time to see Gaius hurrying past his chambers. "Gaius!" The physician stopped and turned to face his king. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Vivienne has gone into labor." Gaius answered. "She is due to give birth any moment. I must hurry to her." Uther nodded, but his thoughts were not on Gaius. They were on Vivienne and the baby... his baby. Would they be alright?

He went back into his room and began to pace. It was no use trying to go back to sleep, he would be worrying all night. Even though he didn't love Vivienne as he had Ygraine, he felt responsible and hoped she would live, she was after all the mother of his second child. 

After what seemed hours later, their was a knock on his door. Uther ran over to it and threw it open. Gaius was standing there. "Yes?" asked Uther, trying to keep the anxiety and excitement he felt out of his voice.

"Gorlois wants you." Uther nodded, he had already dressed and he now followed Gaius to the chambers Gorlois and Vivienne shared.

Gorlois looked up and smiled with delight. "Uther! Come meet my daughter, Morgana." A daughter. He had a daughter. Morgana. Uther crept forward towards the bed. Vivienne was holding their daughter. Both mother and child seemed healthy and Uther held back a sigh of relief.

It was with great difficulty that Uther pried his eyes off his new born daughter and turned to Gorlois. "Congratulations, Gorlois. You must be very proud." Vivienne looked at him and gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew how difficult it must be for him to say that.

"Would you like to hold her?" she asked. As a mother she understood that as Morgana's real father Uther would like to at least get to hold her. Gorlois nodded and didn't seem to mind the suggestion.

Uther nodded and Vivienne gently place Morgana in her father's arms. Uther stared down it the tiny face of his daughter. She was so small, so innocent. Too innocent and yet she was born of a wrongful union. Morgana was an illegitimate child.

He didn't know how long he held her, but it seemed too short and a time and it was with great reluctance that he handed her over to Gorlois. As he did so, he felt as if part of his heart had just been ripped out.

"I can't believe she's actually gone." Gorlois sobbed and Uther patted him the shoulder as they watched Vivienne's body being lowered into the earth. Gorlois clutched Morgana's hand. Uther looked down at his three year old daughter. She was too young to understand that her mother was dead and Uther felt protective of her.

He was her father after all. He should be the one holding Morgana's hand and trying to explain to her that her mother was never coming back, instead that was left to Gorlois.

Uther felt someone tug on his sleeve and he looked down to see Arthur looking up at him. Uther smiled at his son. His love for his daughter had not replaced his love for his son and he loved them both equally. He only hoped that he would never have to choose between them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"She's here!" Arthur cried looking out the window. Uther went over to join his son and smiled as she saw Morgana accompanied by several guards making their way to the castle. Gorlois was now dead and Uther had adopted her as his ward. No one would think this unusual and Uther would finally have his daughter under his own roof. She would finally be his to love and care for. At long last, Uther could be Morgana's father.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Uther stared at the empty bed chamber. Morgana was gone...probably forever. She had been taken from him. The sorceress Morgause had taken his daughter from him and she would pay for it. One way or another Morgause would pay for it. "Father?"

Uther looked up to see Arthur still wearing his armor watching him. "I'm sorry." Arthur said simply. "I've failed you. I failed to protect Morgana."

"No," said Uther gently but firmly, "she was my responsibility and therefore it is my fault." He could not let Arthur take the blame for his. Uther knew Arthur loved Morgana like a sister, which is exactly what she was, only Arthur didn't know that. But he, Uther, was Morgana's father. It was his duty to look after her...and he had failed.

He looked at Arthur and was suddenly afraid that someone would snatch his son away from him too. He put his arms around him and held him protectively. _Let them try!_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Uther paced the length of the throne room. That was pretty much all he had done for the past year. Pace, eat, drinking, and sleep...and worry. As Gaius had pointed out Morgana had been missing for more than a year. There was very little chance of her ever being found now.

"Father!" Uther turned to see Arthur in full armor hurrying towards him. Uther frowned, he was back early, but as he got closer he say that Arthur was smiling.

"We found her. We found Morgana." Uther nearly collapsed at the unexpected joyous news, but Arthur managed to catch him.

"How is she? Where is she?" Uther asked.

"She's in her chambers. Gaius is examining her now." Uther nodded and squeezed Arthur's shoulder. He smiled at his son and then turned to leave. Morgana was back. His daughter was home. Uther nearly cried with joy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Morgana was dying and Uther could only watch as her life slipped away. How had it come to this? He couldn't lose her...he couldn't! She had to be saved. It didn't matter how.

Gaius just stared at him in shock, when Uther suggested using magic to cure her. Gaius's shock grew when Uther confessed that Morgana was his daughter.

"She has to live, Gaius." he added with finality.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You can't do this!" Uther raged, staring at Morgause with absolute hatred. The sorceress who had once taken his daughter from him was now trying to steal his crown. "You have no right to the throne!"

"No, she does not." Uther blinked. _Morgana?_ What was she doing? "But I do." Uther's whole body and mind went into shock. _Morgana..._ do it couldn't be! But it was. In his mind he heard Gaius saying that there was a traitor in their midst and Uther felt numb as he realized that Morgana was that traitor. But how...? What made her think she could rightfully take his crown from him? _Unless..._ "I am your daughter after all." She knew. Uther couldn't move. She knew. His child, his own daughter. "Don't look so surprised. I've known for some time."

Uther could only watch in horror and agony of mind as the crown was placed on Morgana's head and she was declared queen of Camelot. _Morgana._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you really hate me so much?" Morgana turned back and looked at Uther in such a way that left him in no doubt how she felt.

"You can't even begin to imagine how much I hate you." As the door to his cell clanged shut, Uther sank to his knees. She hated him. Morgana, his own daughter hated him. He placed his face in his hands and wept.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Father." Uther looked up to see Arthur kneeling next to him. His son, his boy was here. Uther sobbed and Arthur put his arms around him. For the last week he had been torn between his anguish over Morgana's betrayal and his anxiety over Arthur's fate.

Arthur was safe, alive. But why had he come for him? Uther didn't deserve it. He had lied to Arthur about Morgana's true parentage and looked what had happened because of it. "I'm sorry." Uther sobbed. "I am so sorry!"

Arthur gently hushed him. "It's alright, Father. You're safe now."

"You don't...hate me?" Uther asked and Arthur pulled away and looked at his father in shock.

"Hate you? Never! You're my father and I love you." Uther broke down again and held tight to his son. Arthur. His son, his boy. Uther had lost a daughter. Morgana was not the young woman he had believed her to be, but Arthur was here now. Uther now realized that even though he had never thought he would have to choose between his two children, he had made his choice long ago...and look what it had cost him.


	15. The Letter

Dear Arthur,

There is something I need to tell you, a secret that I have been hiding from you. I didn't want to keep this from you, I've always wanted to tell you, but I was afraid. I was afraid of how you would react.

I also knew you weren't ready, that it wasn't the right time. You were unprepared, but now I think you are...no, I don't think it, I know you are. So, I am going to risk everything, our friendship, your trust, and must of all, my own life. It will be up to you to decide what to do with it. Arthur, I have magic.

I didn't choose to have it, I was born with it. Magic isn't good or evil, Arthur, it is how you use it. It can be used for evil, but I can also be used for good. I pray that I will always use it that way. May I never be corrupted by its power!

You probably don't realize it, Arthur, but I've saved your life more times using magic then I count. At first I only did so, because it was my destiny. My destiny is to protect you, Arthur, just as it is yours to be the greatest king the world will ever know. But know I protect you, not only because it is my destiny to do so, but because you are not only my prince, Arthur, but you have become my friend. You are the best friend I ever had.

Please believe me when I say that if I had any evil intentions and that if I wanted to destroy you, your father, and/or Camelot, I could easily have done so long ago, but I don't. I love Camelot. It is my home. I love it more than any other place on earth, even Elador.

I am sorry, Arthur. I never meant to deceive you and I hope that if not now, that in time you will come to see him as I really am. For magic is part of me, Arthur. It is who and what I am. If I did not have magic, I would not be Merlin. I would be some boring, droll servant you would only be at your side because he was told to.

I know this is a lot to take in, and I probably should leave it at that, but I have to tell you something else. Balinor is...was my father. I didn't know until Gaius told me right before we were about to leave to go find him. I didn't tell you for the same reasons I didn't tell you about my magic and for that I am once again sorry. There is one more thing: I am a Dragonlord.

The title and abilities are passed from father to son, when the father dies. So once my father died, I became the last Dragonlord.

Now, it is up to you, Arthur. Will you tell your father, will you banish me? I leave all that for you to decide, but I hope you make the right decision.

Your forever faithful servant and friend,  
Merlin son of Balinor and the last of the Dragonlords.


	16. Arthur's Understanding

_Author's Note: Sequel to 'The Letter'. Contains spoilers for season 3._

Merlin stared at the letter he had written. Now he just had to deliver it. Should he? He knew Gaius wouldn't approve, but something...something had told Merlin that now was the best time to let Arthur know his secret. At first he had ignored it for fear of Arthur's reaction, but the longer he ignored it the stronger the feeling got.

Finally out of desperation Merlin had written the letter. The thought of telling Arthur face to face terrified him more than anything and the feeling would not go away, so Merlin had settled on a compromise: the letter. He hoped that would do the trick. But the feeling was still there and Merlin somehow knew that it wouldn't go away until he delivered it.

So, taking a deep breath and plucking up his courage, Merlin took the letter tentatively in his hand and made his way to Arthur's chambers. He hesitated outside the door. _Come on, Merlin! Do it! _He raised his hand to knock, but at the last moment pulled it back and bending down slid the letter under the door. As he walked back to Gaius's quarters Merlin felt the feeling slip away. It was now replaced with a quite peacefulness that surprised him. Now all he had to do was wait.

Arthur felt sick. It was not that he was ill, but more citizens of Camelot had been caught using magic and his father had ordered their executions. Executing anyone, no matter what they were guilty of, always caused him unease. But this was different. One of the sorceress had been healing her daughter from a deadly illness while another had just been using magic to rebuild his house which had been destroyed in a fire.

His father had always told him that magic was evil, but now Arthur was starting to question that belief. The people who were to be executed had not been using magic for evil purposes. The woman with the dying daughter had only been trying to save someone she loved. That wasn't evil.

Arthur needed to be alone. He need to think. He pushed open the doors to his chambers and immediately felt something under his feet. He bent and picked it up. It was a letter. It was addressed to him and even though he had never seen the handwriting before he somehow knew that it was from Merlin.

He raised an eyebrow. What could Merlin possibly have to say that he couldn't tell Arthur in person? Arthur found his curiosity aroused and he opened the letter and began to read.

The letter dropped from Arthur's hand and he felt his legs buckling out from under him. He managed to catch himself and he sat down on his bed, his mind reeling. _Merlin has magic?_ Arthur shook his head. That could not be true. This had to be a joke.

But Arthur knew no one, not even Merlin, would joke about something serious like this. It had to be true. Mixed emotions flooded through him. Shock. Merlin had magic! Merlin, the idiot of idiots! It just was not possible. Anger. Merlin had lied to him. All this time Merlin had been hiding this from him. Fear. What if his father found out? Merlin would be executed.

Arthur tried to calm himself down and think about this clearly. He picked up the letter and he reread it...twice. The more he thought about it he realized that Merlin was not the bumbling idiot Arthur had believed him to be. Merlin had a head on his shoulders and he knew how to use it. Merlin was also right. If he had wanted to destroy Camelot he could easily have done so long ago. But he hadn't.

There was one part that troubled Arthur greatly. The part about Merlin saving his life more times than he could count. Was that true? No sooner had Arthur asked himself that, then a lot of things started to make sense. The cave in that stopped the Knights of Medhir, the fire that had saved Arthur and Gwaine from either having to kill each other or be killed.

This, Arthur remembered suddenly, was not the first time that Merlin claimed to have magic. He had said so once before when he claimed to have been the one who cured Guinevere's father. Arthur suddenly understood that Merlin had not been making that up. He had cured Tom.

Then a sudden flash of memory and Arthur say the old sorcerer. The one that had called himself "Dragoon the Great." He had recognized the old man's eyes and Arthur gasped as he realized that had been Merlin. He had some how used magic to make himself look old. _But why?_ Then the answer came to him; to save Guinevere.

Arthur stood realizing he owed Merlin much more than just his own life. If it weren't for Merlin, Guinevere would not be alive either.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Merlin kept glancing nervously at the door. It had been little more than a hour since he had slid the letter under Arthur's door and Merlin wondered what was happening. Was Arthur reading it? Or had he already finished? Was he showing it to his father?

"Merlin!" Merlin jumped. He wanted to hide but before he could even move the door was thrown open and Arthur walked in and in his hand he held the letter. Merlin felt a lump of fear rise in his throat and he could barely move, let alone speak.

Arthur was startled to see the fear in Merlin's eyes and he realized that Merlin didn't know whether or not Arthur would tell his father.

Merlin watched as Arthur grabbed a candle off of Gaius's table and...and burned the letter. Merlin's mouth opened and then closed. "You...you're not going to tell your father?"

Arthur turned and gave him a friendly smile and Merlin suddenly knew that he was safe. Arthur wasn't angry. Arthur understood. Merlin let out a sigh of relief.

"Who else knows?" Arthur asked and Merlin understood that Arthur was asking who else knew about his magic. "Gaius...and Lancelot."

The fact that Gaius knew didn't surprise Arthur, he should have suspected that, but Lancelot? How..."Ah!" said Arthur realization dawning on him. "It was you who killed the griffin and not Lancelot, wasn't it?" Merlin blushed and then nodded.

"I had to use magic and Lancelot over heard me. That's why he left Camelot. He felt that he couldn't take credit for my actions."

"Then he did the right thing." said Arthur. Sir Leon appeared in the door way.

"Excuse me, sire, but your father wants you." Arthur nodded and Sir Leon left. Arthur turned to follow.

"Arthur?" He turned back to face Merlin. "Thank you."

"No, Merlin, thank you." 


	17. The Love We Deserve

_Author's Note: Once again spoilers for season 3. I must apologize to any of my readers who have yet to see season 3, but it so hard to write about it when there are so many great moments. So, if you'll just wait patiently and once you have seen season 3, come back and read these. _

It was a beautiful day and Princess Elena thought it was the perfect day for a ride. She turned from the window and hurried down to the stables. It didn't take her long to get her horse ready and in next to no time she was ride through the woods surrounding her home.

She smiled. How she loved to ride! She loved the feel of the wind as brushed passed her face. If only she could do this more often. She knew her father didn't entirely approve and Grunhilda...Elena stopped that track of thought when she remembered that Grunhilda was missing, had been for almost six months, since their trip to Camelot in fact. _I hope she's all right,_ Elena thought to herself.

Elena pulled her horse to a stop as she heard the sound of hooves headed in her direction. Soon the other rider came into view. It was a young knight, dressed in the livery of Camelot. The knight pulled to a stop when he saw her.

"I am Sir Lancelot of Camelot and I seek an audience with Lord Godwin, but I'm afraid I might be lost."

"Indeed, not. You are headed in the right direction. I will take you to my father if you wish."

"Your father? So you are Princess Elena?"

"I am." Sir Lancelot bowed his head in acknowledgment of royalty. Without another word, Elena turned around and headed back to the castle, Sir Lancelot following close behind.

Lord Godwin was not expecting visitors so of course he was surprised when Elena entered the great hall with a knight of Camelot. The knight bowed. "I am Sir Lancelot. I have been sent here on behalf of Prince Arthur."

Lord Godwin invited Sir Lancelot to be seated. "I hope all is well in Camelot."

Sir Lancelot sighed. "I wish I could say so, but I am afraid not."

"What has happened? Tell me everything." said Lord Godwin. He and Elena listened as Sir Lancelot told them about the Lady Morgana's betrayal, how she made herself queen, he told them about Morgana's defeat.

"The king has not yet fully recovered from the shock and pain of it all. Prince Arthur has had to step in and become regent temporarily. Unfortunately, many innocent people were killed under Morgana's reign and our resources are not what they once were. Prince Arthur calls on your friendship and begs the loan for some grain, just enough to make through the on coming winter. He will repay you when he receive our next harvest."

Lord Godwin had listened in silence and it was clear to both Elena and Lancelot that the news had devastated him. "Lady Morgana...who would have thought." he sighed. "Poor Uther. I understand his pain. Of course I'll send the grain, but tell Arthur it is not a loan, it is a gift. I will not hear of repayment."

Lancelot rose and bowed again. "You are very generous, Lord Godwin."

Lord Godwin also stood. "But you must be exhausted from your journey, Sir Lancelot. I beseech you, stay the night and then leave in the morning." Lancelot accepted this offer and Elena offered to show him to his room.

"Lady Morgana." said Elena shaking her head. "I never would have dreamed her capable of something like this. She struck me as a kind and caring soul."

"She deceived a great many people." said Lancelot, sadly. "If only her true nature been discovered before...well, Camelot would not be in the state it is in."

"Those poor people...I hope the king recovers."

"He might in time. But do not fear for Camelot. Arthur is a good man, he'll make a good ruler."

Elena nodded. "I know. I have a great respect for Arthur Pendragon. I do not doubt that Camelot will flourish under his rule."

"Indeed it will." Lancelot agreed. They had arrived at Lancelot's chambers and they bid each other good night. It was raining the next morning and it was so windy that Lord Godwin insisted that Lancelot could not possibly think of leaving in this weather. Lancelot reluctantly agreed to stay until the weather improved. Unfortunately, the weather did not improve at all that day or the next and Lancelot found himself trapped in Lord Godwin's castle.

On his third evening Lancelot wondered the castle. Lord Godwin had given him permission to explore and Lancelot, from want of anything else to do, explored to his hearts content. He soon found himself in the castle library where he found Elena curled up on a sofa reading a book. She looked up when he came in and gave him a welcoming smile. He smiled back and asked what she was reading. That got them on the topic of literature and they quickly discovered that they had similar interests.

The fourth and fifth days the weather turned even worse and Lancelot found himself much in the company of Elena. At first they talked to each other solely because their was hardly anyone else to talk to. Then they sought each other out because they had begun to enjoy each other's company.

On the fifth evening shortly after dinner, Lord Godwin watched them, a smile forming on this face. Elena was laughing over something Lancelot had just said and the knight was staring at her in admiration. Lord Godwin understood what was happening between the two, even if both of them did not.

A week after Lancelot's arrival the weather finally cleared up and he knew he had to leave. He had been gone too long and no doubt Arthur and the rest of the knights would be worried about him. Lord Godwin and Elena came to see him off, the latter was unusually quiet and kept her eyes mostly on the ground.

Lancelot bowed and thanked them both for their hospitality. "Elena," she looked up finally as he said her name, "thank you. I had a wonderful time and I enjoyed our conversations."

"So did I." Lancelot smiled and then mounted his horse and was gone.

"What is the matter, Lancelot?" asked Sir Gwaine. "You've been back a week and you're still very gloomy." Lancelot ignored him and did not rise to the usual banter that he and Gwaine shared. "You're not sick, are you?"

"I am perfectly healthy." Lancelot insisted. If they hadn't been seated in the great hall, celebrating Arthur's birthday, he would have just gotten up and left.

"Something's up." whispered Sir Elyan as Sir Leon went over to the prince and whispered something in his ear. The prince's face lit up and he whispered something up.

The doors to the great hall opened and Lancelot nearly jumped with surprise as Lord Godwin and Princess Elena entered. Elena looked around the room and caught his eye. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Lord Godwin," said Arthur rising and shaking him by the hand. "This is a most pleasant surprise."

"We wanted to make sure everything was alright after everything that has happened."

"Camelot could not be better." Arthur assured him. "Thank you so much for the grain."

"I am happy to see you again." said Elena to Lancelot as they both left the great hall.

"And I you." They smiled at each other and they was an unspoken understanding that passed between them. He took her hand and squeezed it affectionately. No words could describe what they felt, but none were needed. They both knew what it was the other was feeling. They shared a look that said more than words ever could: _I love you._


	18. A New Home

My name is Trickler and I am a sorcerer. Unfortunately, my magic has brought me more trouble then blessings. People without magic tend to think that those with magic are all powerful and can do whatever they like. Not so. Magic has its uses, but also its limitations. For example, I could fill a bucket with water, but I couldn't create a flood, even if I wanted to.

Most people are afraid of magic and tend to flee with those from it, but that certainly wasn't the case with my master, King Alined. Alined saw magic as a way to get him want he wanted. He used my gift to his own advantage. To him, my magic and I were nothing but a means to an end. I was little more than a slave. 

Now, you are probably wondering why I didn't just turn against him and do something like turn him into a toad (and I must confess that thought had crossed my mind), but the truth is, and I'm ashamed to admit it, I was afraid of him. Even if I had turned him into a toad, I was afraid that he would find a way to change back and that once that happened he would punish me severely for it. So, I did as I was told and hoped that he would be pleased with me.

And for a time he was. Everything was going well. My magic payed off and then came the time that he had to journey to Camelot. That is when everything changed. Alined wanted me to help start a war. How? By enchanting the Prince Arthur into falling in love with Lady Vivian, the extremely beautiful daughter of the extremely over-protective King Olaf.

It didn't take me long and I was able to enchant Arthur with ease. No one suspected what I was up to. I had succeeded! But there was just one thing neither Alined and I had counted on...Vivian didn't like Arthur. In fact, she spurned him when he declared his love for her.

So then I had to enchant her too. Once that was completed, Alined's war was certain to start. Arthur was caught in Vivian's chambers and King Olaf challenged him to a duel...to the death! Either way no matter who won, a war was sure to start. And there was no doubt there would be one. 

For the first two stages, it looked certain that King Olaf would be the winner and each time he came so close to winning, but then the timer expired. Then things changed. The third stage, Arthur was no longer slow and distracted. He was fast and his thoughts were no longer on Vivian, but on staying alive. Then came the final blow...or so we expected. Instead, Arthur let Olaf live! There wasn't going to be a war after all. Which meant one thing, I was in serious trouble. 

Alined was furious! He tied my hands and I had to walk all the way back home. I knew there was more to the punishment than this and no matter how much I tried to reason with him that it wasn't my fault (after all I had enchanted them both as he wanted me too), he wouldn't listen.

I grew exhausted on that long trip. I knew for certain that a fate worse then death awaited me back home. For the first time in my life I suddenly wished that I didn't have magic. I wish had had been a normal human being. Then something happened that I had always been afraid would. We were attacked by bandits! 

There were too many of them and unfortunately I still had my hands tied. Alined drew his swords, but what good could he do against so many? Finally, realizing there was nothing else to do. He turned and looked at him. "Do something!"

"Like what?" I asked as he cut the rope from my hands. I may be a sorcerer, but it had been years since I had just done something without being told what to do.

"I don't care. Anything!" 

Anything. Well, it took me a moment to think it out as "anything" covers a lot of ground. Then I had an idea. An idea that might just save us and get free me from Alined...forever. My eyes flashed gold and several of the bandits went flying through the air. 

The rest, realizing that I had magic and that I could (and definitely would) use it against them, took off. Alined gasped for breath. "Their gone." I didn't wait for him to say more. Instead, I just took off running. "Hey! Get back here...Trickler!"

There was no way I was going back. I was free, free at last! After many years slaving away for Alined, I Trickler was finally a free man. I didn't know where I'd go, but right then I didn't care. I starting laughing as I ran. _Freedom!_ Oh, how wonderful it felt.

Then I froze. There just a head of me was a small group of people. At first I thought I had run into the bandits, but then I noticed that there were women and children among them. _The Druids!_ I had heard much about the Druids. I knew that they had magic and that they were a peaceful people.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked and it took me a few moments for me to realize that he hadn't spoken with his mouth. Instead the words had come directly to my mind.

"I...I'm Trickler."

"And what are you running from, Trickler?"

"My master, King Alined."

"Why?"

"Because...I have magic and for years he's used my as his slave. He would use me and my magic to his own advantage. I saw an opportunity to be free and I took it."

The Druid stared at me intently and then looked at the others. I guessed that they were having some sort of private conversation with their minds. After what seemed an eternity, the man finally turned back to me. "Would you like to join us, Trickler?"

"Oh, yes, please!" The idea of being with people who also had magic and would never take advantage of each other thrilled me.

"Then welcome, to your new home." 


	19. The Love of a Prince

_Author's Note: This is basically just Arthur's thoughts on the development of his relationship with Gwen from season 1-season 2 episode 10._

My name is Arthur, Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. Ever since I was a small boy, I knew that I would one day become king. Although I didn't always understand what that fully entailed, I knew it was a big responsibility. I also knew that in order for me to become king, my father would have to die first. So I was in no hurry for that day to arrive.

Still I trained and prepared knowing that whether I liked it or not the day would come. I kept my mind busy and focused. I listened to my father, heeded his advice, learned from the best of his knights and as I grew older, I grew more and more confident.

Yet, as I grew older and more confident, I also grew more lonely. My father was a busy man with little time for his only son. The knights respected him, but only because I was the prince. My mother had died in child birth and I felt her absence most keenly.

Every boy needs a father, but so does he need a mother. I felt the lack of feminine influence in my life. There was Morgana, my father's ward who was more like a sister to me, but she was too hot tempered at times and her anger flared easily and we fought constantly. I couldn't have put it into words at the time, but I longed for a calm, soothing female presence.

As a prince, I knew that my father would want me to marry for the good of the kingdom and for a time I did not mind that fact. That's what he had done, that's what our forefathers had done for many hundreds of years. Things were not about to change just for me. Yet little did I realize that I was on the path to true love.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would fall in love with a servant, I would have laughed in their face. The idea would have been just absurd. I had always been told that servants were there to serve and that they were beneath me. The concept of servants being equals was as foreign to me as a different language.

I had known Guinevere for years. She had been Morgana's maid since they were young girls when Morgana had come to live at the palace as the king's ward. I had known her, but I had really payed much attention to her. She was a servant. From the little I did observe of her, I knew that she had a kind heart and that Morgana considered her a friend, yet I did not understand that.

It is hard for me to say when things started changing between us, but I have to say my attitudes towards servant took a turn when Merlin showed up. Merlin, slowly stupid, idiotic Merlin. After he saved my life, but my father made him my man servant, a situation which did not please either of us at first.

Yet only in a few days, Merlin had proved his loyalty and I found myself growing rather found of him. Slowly but surely I was beginning to take an interest in the servants.

I think Guinevere finally got some of my attention when she was falsely accused of being a sorceress and was sentenced to death. I didn't know whether to believe her guilty of using magic or not, but I did know that if she had used magic it had only been to cure her deathly ill father. That was not something worthy of death.

Then only a few sort weeks later, Merlin was dying. I went on a quest to retrieve the one thing that could save him and on my return I was thrown into the dungeons. If it hadn't been for Guinevere who came to bring me food just in the nick of time, Merlin would have died that day.

Still she was nothing more than a servant. It wasn't until we went to Elador together with Morgana and Merlin that things really started to change. She spoke up about the women being able to fight and she even corrected me when I was being ungracious about Hunith's food. No one had ever down that before, not even Merlin.

After that I started seeing Guinevere in a whole new light. She was no longer just a servant. She was a trusted allie and friend. I'm not sure exactly when I started falling in love with her, but I guess it was around the time of her father's death. The fact that she continued to serve in the palace with unfailing loyalty despite what had happened, surprised me. I saw a beautiful heart.

Then one day I was bit by a Questing Beast and was dying. Various people came and went through my chambers and I could hear what they were saying. I was surprised when Guinevere came in and actually started talking to me. She told me should knew I would be a great king, that's what kept her going. Later when I recovered I talked to her about it, but she denied ever saying such a thing.

Months passed and we saw little of each other. Then came Cornelius Sigan and his magical attack on Camelot. She saved my life...twice...within the space of about a minute. She was the bravest woman I had ever known.

Weeks later I ended up staying in her house while hiding from the rest of the city. I was going into the tournament disguised. I acted like a prat while I was there, and she gave me the tongue lashing I deserved. I tried to make it up to her and at one point I let it slip that I cared for her. We ended up kissing.

That was the best thing that had ever happened to me and for weeks afterwards I couldn't get it out of my head. I thought about her day and night. Then one day, my worst nightmare happened. Guinevere had been kidnapped by mercenaries.

My father would not send knights to rescue her, so Merlin and I went on our own. It was hard and we encountered some wildren (giant rats that feast on human flesh), but we eventually arrived at the castle where she was being held. Only, she wasn't alone. Lancelot was there too. At first I was delighted to see him, though a bit surprised, then it turned out that Lancelot and Guinevere had feelings for each other.

I cannot describe how painful that was. I was so hurt that I ended up lying and saying I only came to rescue her because Morgana had begged me to. It was wrong of me and I wish more than anything I could take that back.

That night, however, Lancelot left, leaving a heartbroken Guinevere behind. I felt sorry for her, but I was so absorbed in my own hurt and pain that I am afraid I was very distant towards her. 

During the months that passed, it was like there had never been anything between us. We hardly spoke to each other, but I continued to think about her day and night. Things might have gone on like this had not a few things happened. My father's remarriage to the Lady Catrina (who secretly turned out to be a troll) for one. Shortly after their marriage, my father decided to raise the tax.

I came across a couple of the knights nearly beating an elderly man because he couldn't pay the tax. I gave the man back his money and instructed the knights to give back the money to the people. Later that day, Guinevere came to my chambers. She had witness that scene and she said somethings that gave me new hope.

A while later, the Five Kings arrived at Camelot to sign a treaty of peace. Among them were King Olaf and his daughter, the Lady Vivian. Although she was very beautiful, Vivian was also incredibly rude (she actually had the audacity to insult Guinevere!) Unfortunately, someone put an enchantment on me, making me fall in love with Lady Vivian.

My memory of that time is still very fuzzy. The only thing I remember was suddenly feeling Guinevere's lips on mind. Oh, man! If kiss one had been a ten on a scale from one to ten, kiss number two was a perfect 100, easy. That woke me up. I found myself in a tent, getting ready for a match against King Olaf.

Apparently, I had been caught in Lady Vivian's chambers (AGGGH! I'm so glad I don't remember that!) and Olaf had challenged me to a fight to death, which I had readily accepted. So here I was getting ready for the final stage of a duel whose outcome would start a war.

It didn't take long and I won, but I let Olaf live. Thank goodness, he and Vivian left Camelot that very day! I went to go see Guinevere. Merlin had told me that he delivered some flowers to her from me when I was enchanted as at the time I hadn't yet mentioned Lady Vivian's name and he thought I had been talking about Guinevere.

I apologized for what had happened and she apologized too, for the whole incident with Lancelot. We both knew that we could never be, but I will never give up hope that things will change. There is always hope. Now why does that sound familiar?


	20. It's All About Perspective

_Author's Note: Okay, this is just an original scene from the perspective of the different characters._

~Merlin~

"Merlin!" I quickly snapped out of my thoughts. I had been day dreaming and know I was going to pay they price for that. I slowly turned to face Arthur and I knew from the look on his face that he was going to throw something at him. I tried to back away as his hand went for the nearest object. Unfortunately, that happened to be the pitcher...which was full of water.

I managed to duck as the pitcher flew past my head, drenching both me and the floor with water. I gasped as the water hit me. It was freezing cold! I shivered and suddenly felt really angry. Just because Arthur was a prince, didn't mean that he should get away with treating me like this. I opened my mouth as a spew of insults came to my mind. I knew I would be in huge trouble, but right then I didn't really care. I was going to give Arthur a piece of my mind, but I never got to.

"AAH! Arthur!" I whirled around and my anger drained away. Morgana and Gwen had obviously entered Arthur's chambers just in time to be hit by the pitcher and to get soaked by whatever water hadn't spilled on me or the floor. Morgana turned a murderous gaze on Arthur. Gwen just looked like she was about to cry.

"S...sorry..." stammered Arthur, and I suddenly felt sorry for him. I sure wouldn't like to be in his shoes.

"And just what," said Morgana, her voice filled with anger, "where you doing?"

"I...I threw the pitcher at Merlin and he ducked it. I...I didn't mean to hit you...either of you."

Morgana's eyes narrowed. "So you wouldn't hit women with a pitcher, but you would hit a servant?" I knew she had a point, but I still didn't what her to take out all her anger on Morgana.

"Hey, it's fine." I said. "I don't mind. It's a joke...between us." Morgana looked at me like she obviously didn't believe me.

"It's just a bit of water." said Gwen speaking up. "No one got hurt." Morgana let out a deep breath, like she was trying to calm herself down.

"Fine." she said tightly. "But it better not happen again!"

~Arthur~

Merlin was daydreaming...again. I didn't mind if he daydreamed on his own spare time, but right now he was supposed to be doing his chores, which needless to say he was neglecting. This had to stop! "Merlin!"

I saw that I had gotten his attention, but he still needed to be taught a lesson. So, I did what I usually did in situations like this: I threw the pitcher at him. Only, I didn't realize until it left my hand that it was still full of water. Water spilled over the floor. And over Merlin as he ducked the pitcher fly towards his head. He was completely drenched and I knew I was in for it.

Merlin rarely gets angry, but when he does, he acts rather recklessly, without thinking about the consequences. So it that split second after he ducked the pitcher, he was going to do something that would get him into serious trouble, but whatever it was he never to say or do.

"AAH! Arthur!" I felt a lump rise in my throat. I reluctantly turned towards the door. Morgana and Guinevere both stood there, the pitcher on the floor by their feet and both of them were wet. I instantly knew what had happened and as Morgana turned on me, I seriously thought she was going to kill me.

But that wasn't even half as bad as the look on Guinevere's face. She looked like she was about to burst into tears any second. I wanted to melt into the floor right then and there. How could I ever face her again? "S...sorry..." that was all I could manage to say.

Morgana still looked like I was history. "And just what were you doing?" she demanded.

"I...I threw the pitcher at Merlin and he ducked it." I said trying to explain. "I...I didn't mean to hit you...either of you." Those last words were directed at Guinevere, hoping she wouldn't hate me forever. She met my gaze and just nodded. I felt as if a great weight had just been lifted off my shoulders.

"So you wouldn't hit women with a pitcher, but you would hit a servant?" asked Morgana, obviously still far from pleased and I realized how bad that sounded. She was right of course, but before I could answer her Merlin spoke up.

"Hey, it's fine." he said. "I don't mind. It's a joke...between us." _Good old, Merlin. _I had gotten him soaking wet and here he was still speaking up for me. Morgana, however, didn't appear to believe him.

"It's just a bit of water." said Guinevere speaking up. "No one got hurt." I gave her a small smile of gratitude which she returned. Morgana let out a deep breath.

"Fine." she said tightly. "But it better not happen again!"

~Morgana~

Gwen and I walked towards Arthur's chambers in stony silence, neither one of us trusting ourselves to speak. We had just had a very serious disagreement and right now, I was angry, very angry. I wasn't angry at Gwen, but at himself. I had just hurt by best friend.

We needed to speak to Arthur and I hoped that he would help clear things up. No sooner had I opened the door, then a metal pitcher came flying at us and water splashed all over us. That was the last straw! I completely lost my temper. "AAAH! Arthur!"

I was so angry that I didn't even notice that Merlin was soaking wet from head to toe. Arthur turned pale when he realized what had happened. I didn't know who I was more angry for, myself or Gwen. First I had hurt her, now she had been hit with a pitch and was wet.

"S...sorry..." Arthur stammered.

"And just what were you doing?" I demanded.

"I...I threw the pitcher at Merlin and he ducked it." he said, still stammering, and it was then that I finally noticed the state Merlin was in. "I...I didn't mean to hit you...either of you."

That didn't change the fact that he had hit us, and knowing that he had intentionally thrown the pitcher at Merlin did nothing to improve my temper.

"So you wouldn't hit women with a pitcher, but you would hit a servant?" I knew I had Arthur there and there was nothing he could say to get himself out of this mess.

"Hey, it's fine." Merlin said. "I don't mind. It's a joke...between us." I knew he was just saying to come to Arthur's defense, yet I helped calm me down...a little.

"It's just a bit of water." said Gwen. "No one was hurt." I took a deep breath. If Gwen could forgive them, I guess I could too, but some of my anger still remained.

"Fine." I said. "But it better not happen again!"

~Gwen~

I tried not to cry, but trying not to cry when you've just had a bad fight with your best friend, is as easy as not thinking about the man you love for 24 hours. I couldn't look at Morgana as we walked towards Arthur's chambers. I only hoped that he would be understanding and not lash out at Morgana. It wasn't her fault, not really.

Morgana opened his door, only for us to be hit by a pitcher and get wet with water. Normally this would have annoyed me very much, but this time I was, in a way, grateful for it, because it gave me something else thing about. Morgana, however, did not feel the same way and she nearly exploded she was so angry. "AAH! Arthur!"

Arthur turned pale when he saw us and realized what had happened. He looked at me and I realized that he must have I thought I was about to cry because of the water pitcher. He looked like he wanted to die. "S...sorry..." he stammered.

"And just what were you doing?" Morgana demanded and I was suddenly afraid she'd throw him out the window.

"I...I threw the pitcher at Merlin and he ducked it." I turned to see Merlin standing in the middle of the room. He was even more wet than we were and he was shivering. "I didn't mean to hit you...either of you." he added looking at him. I nodded to show I understood. Morgana was far from impressed.

"So you wouldn't hit women with a pitcher, but you would hit a servant?" She had a point and normally this would have bugged me too, but right now Arthur would so anguished that I could not be angry at him.

"Hey, it's fine." Merlin said. "I don't mind. It's a joke...between us." It was just like Merlin to say that. Protecting Arthur, that was his main goal in life, even it was from angry women. But I could tell Morgana didn't believe him.

"It's just water." I said, trying to calm her down. "No one got hurt." She took a deep breath.

"Fine." she said. "But it better not happen again!"


	21. Prophecy Fulfilled

_Author's Note: Post season 3._

Morgana fled from the city, tears running down her cheeks. Her whole body shook with sobs and she could barely see where she was going, she was blinded by tears. She had barely made it out of Camelot when she heard the cry go up from the city that it had been retaken and that Morgana was no longer queen.

She felt immense anger rising within and she wished that she could destroy Camelot right then and there, but her magic wasn't strong enough. _"Bid your time, sister."_ The memory of Morgause's words only fueled her furry. If they had simply dethroned her, she would not be nearly as angry as she was. It was the loss of her sister's life that enraged her.

_Merlin. _Her eyes shone with hatred as she thought of the young man who had some how managed to thwart time and time again. He had been the one who had emptied the Cup of Life of the blood it contained, and Morgana was absolutely certain that he was the one responsible for Morgause's death.

How, she did not know nor did she really care as it made little difference to her at the moment. Morgause was dead and Merlin was responsible, that was all the really mattered and one way or another he would pay.

Morgana had just reached the forest surrounding Camelot when she stopped. A voice, loud and clear spoke in her mind. _"Morgana."_ A smile stretched across her face. She hadn't heard that voice in over a year, yet she recognized it all the same. _Mordred._

A boy stepped out from behind on of the trees and his icy blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at her. Morgana ran forward and threw her arms around him. "Mordred."

_"Why were you crying, Morgana?"  
_  
Morgana sighed and straightened up. "My sister, Morgause, is dead. Merlin killed her." She clenched his hands. "He will pay for it too."

_"He does have a lot to answer for."_

"Will you help me?"

_"Of course, but first there is someone who should be reunited with."_ Morgana looked at him in puzzlement. Then a figure came forward and Morgana gasped in delight.

"Alvarr!" The man smiled and bowed.

"Your majesty."

"I am no longer the queen, Alvarr."

"To Mordred and me and others of our kind, you always will be." Morgana smiled and held out her hand to him, which he took and kissed.

"We have much to discuss, if you will come with us, your majesty."

"Certainly. Lead on." Morgana turned to follow Mordred and Alvarr deeper into the forest and that day the prophecy was fulfilled. 


	22. Red is the Rose

In the garden there was a single rose. It's beautiful red petals glinted in the sunlight and as Gwen looked at it she wondered how it could have survived the snow fall from the previous night. It should have died, but yet there it was looking as if nothing in the world could destroy it and bring it down. 

Gwen envied it. Unlike her, the rose seemed carefree and unburdened from the hardships of life. The snow hadn't destroyed it and seemed to her as if nothing could. The rose was not to be brought down. Gwen could only wish she was the same.

"Merlin, come look at this rose." Merlin had just been about to pass into the castle, but he turned back at the sound of Gwen's voice. He came and looked over her shoulder and let out an involuntary gasp. He could feel as if he could speak, so instead he just stood there and enjoyed the rose's existence in silence. "How can it be here?" Gwen asked him.

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know." he said, his voice barely above a whisper, as if he were afraid that speaking any louder would disturb the rose. "But I'm glad it is."

"Merlin!" Arthur's voice rang through the garden and Gwen and Merlin instinctively hushed him. Arthur came forward, curious to see what they were looking at. His eyes widened when he saw the rose. "It's...beautiful!" he said, for lack of a better word.

He too was enchanted by the small flower, but it was no magic of the rose that held the three of them there. It was just the simple beautiful of a living thing that had survived against all odds. The three of them could have stayed there for others, just drawing pleasure from watching the beautiful rose, but they all had duties to attend to and so with great reluctance they turned their backs on the rose and headed back inside.

The next morning, Gwen rushed out to the garden. She was sure the rose must have died during the night, but it was still there when she arrived. Merlin and Arthur obviously hadn't forgotten the rose either as they joined her in the garden a few minutes later. As before the three of them just stood in awed silence as they beheld it. Not only had the rose survived another day, but it seemed healthier and even more beautiful than before.

Day after day, Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur would go to the garden and the rose would be there, growing stronger and more beautiful with each passing day. Weeks, months, years passed and it was still there and still every day the three of them would go to the garden to see it.

One day, Gwen and Arthur walked arm in arm to the garden. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress and on both their heads was a crown. Merlin walked behind them. They were surprised to see an old woman in the garden caring for the rose when they got there. In all the time that they had been visiting the rose, no one else had been there before.

"Who are you?" asked Gwen kindly, for the woman didn't seem to be a threat and she was must gentle in her handling of the rose.

"I am the keeper of the rose." the woman said. "It is beautiful is it not?"

"Yes, it most certainly is." said Arthur. "But could you please tell me what it is? I know it is a rose, but for we have long felt that it was something more than that."

The woman nodded. "You are right, Arthur Pendragon. The rose is much more than an ordinary rose. It is a symbol. I symbol for the love you two have for each other." she gestured to Gwen and Arthur. "As your love has grown, so has the rose. If your love were to wither and die, so would the rose."

Gwen nodded and so did Arthur. It made sense. The woman smiled and was gone. Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur stayed with the rose a little longer and throughout the remaining years of their lives, it only continued to grow. 


	23. A Better Friend

_Author's Note: This is just one of my favorite scenes from season 2 from Merlin's POV._

They say it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, and right now Merlin was pondering the truth of that statement. Freya was lost, dead. He had only known her a short time, but he had grown to love her more than he had ever loved anyone, and now she was dead.

While her death caused him infinite pain, Merlin was glad that he had met her. Sure his life would have gone as normal, but then Merlin would never have had the happiest days of his life. It would be hard to move on without her, but he had to. She would want him to.

Merlin sighed and went back to polishing Arthur's boots. He could not blame Arthur for her death. He had been doing his duty, defending Camelot. No, Arthur was not to blame in anyway. It was that sorceress, that one that placed the curse on Freya. If she hadn't been so cruel, Freya might have lived an ordinary life, well, as ordinary as it gets when you have magic.

The doors to Arthur's chambers and Arthur himself walked in. "Ah, Merlin! I've been looking for you."

"Yeah right, you're going to ask me to polish your armor, um, wash your clothes and clean your room." Merlin guessed. Merlin went black to scrubbing at a boot. Arthur, instead of answering, came and sat down next to him.

"Something has been upsetting you, hasn't it?" asked Arthur. Arthur may have not been the most intelligent person Merlin had ever met, but he could be pretty dang observant at times.

"Maybe." said Merlin, trying not to choke up. He tried not to think about Freya or he might start crying again and that was the one thing he would not do in front of Arthur.

"Was it when I threw water over you?" That got a smile out of Merlin. _If only it were that! _he thought. As if that were the only thing that could possible upset him. For a moment Merlin considered telling Arthur the truth, but that would would bring out more questions that Merlin was not ready to answer.

"Wasn't very nice." he was finally.

"It was a bit unfair." Arthur admitted. "Like when you called me fat."

"Why was that unfair?"

"Because I am not." Merlin just smiled and tried not to laugh. The next thing he knew, Arthur had him in a headlock and was pulling at his hair. "Still think I need to get in shape?"

"Ow! No, no. I..." Arthur let him go and the prince had a hug grin on his face.

"That's better."

"Thanks."

Arthur nodded. "You alright though?" Merlin merely nodded. "You need to polish my armor, wash my clothes, and clean my room." said Arthur before standing up and walking out the door.

Merlin smiled to himself. Arthur might be a prat at times and he might have a strange way for showing sympathy and friendship, but Merlin knew he could not ask for a better friend.


	24. A Letter of Love

_Author's Note: For anyone else you wondered about the letter Arthur left Gwen in 'Sweet Dreams'_

Dear Guinevere,

I love you. There, I said it. It took me long enough. Guinevere, you mean more to me than anyone. I cannot stop thinking about you. You are forever on my mind and I am in constant dread lest some sudden harm should befall you. If anything were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do.

Those few days when I stayed with you were the happiest of my life, not because I got away and got to be "Sir William of Dayra", but simple because you were there. I'll never be forgot those days as long as I live. Without them, I would not be the man I am today.

I have to tell you, Guinevere, the day you came to my chambers after the incident with that poor man and his taxes, what you said then, it meant a lot to me...and it still does. I had almost given up hope for us, but that helped revive it. If it hadn't been for what you had said, I don't know how I would have gotten through what happened next. 

About Lady Vivian...I am so sorry! Please believe me when I say that I am not, nor ever have been, in love with her. Out of all the women in the world, she would have been the last I would have chosen.

I meant what I said that day she first arrived. You are one of Camelot's finest. No, you are the finest! You are the finest servant this country has ever seen, you are the finest seamstress that every held a needle and thread, and you are the finest woman that ever breathed.

Now, there is something I have to bring up and I know it is a rather delicate topic, yet I feel that I must. Lancelot. You did care for him, I know that. I must admit I was hurt when I saw the two of you together, but it was wrong of me to say what I said. It wasn't true. I did not go to rescue you because Morgana begged me to. I would have gone even if she hadn't. I went because I love you and I did not want anything to happen to you.

I am sorry that he hurt you. I know when he left it hurt you just as much as it hurt me to see that you cared for him. Yet I have to be perfectly, honest, I am glad he left. Yes, it is completely selfish of me, but I can't bear to think what would have happened if he had stayed. Would you have gone with him?

I must say thank you, Guinevere. If it hadn't been for you, I would either still be enchanted with Vivian or I would have been killed by King Olaf, which seems much more likely. I will never forget that kiss. 

You once said that when I was king, things may be different. I hope so, Guinevere, cause I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life without you. You are the queen of my heart.

Love,

Arthur.


	25. The Ghost

"Arthur." It was barely more than a whisper, yet it was enough to wake the prince from his peaceful sleep. He frowned when he saw that no one was there. He shook his head. It must have been his imagination, he decided. He closed his eyes again. "Arthur." He opened his eyes again and looked around. Except for himself, there was no one there."Arthur."

"Who's there?" He felt stupid taking to thin air, but the voice calling his name unnerved him. "If there's anyone there, show yourself!"

"Arthur."

"Show yourself!"

"Arthur."

"Show yourself or go away and leave me alone!"

"Arthur. Arthur. Arthur. Arthur. Arthur!" Each time it said his name, the voice got louder and louder to where the last time it was pretty much a scream. Arthur dove under his covers and covered his ears with his hands. He was shaking violently as an unexplainable fear gripped him.

He took several deep breaths willing himself to calm down. The voice had come from nowhere, yet Arthur heard it as clearly as he could now hear his own heart racing. Was he going mad?

"You look terrible." That was the first thing out of Merlin's mouth the next morning and he said it without thinking. His eyes widened as soon as he realized what he had said. Arthur glared at him, but his heart didn't seem to be an it. He was still shaken up from the event of the night before. Merlin frowned, something was wrong.

But it wasn't until he noticed Arthur eating his breakfast in silence, which was extremely unusual, that Merlin realized it was serious. He cleared his throat and Arthur looked at him questioningly. "Is...is something the matter, sire?" Arthur sighed.

"It will sound crazy. You'd just laugh at me."

"I won't. I promise." Arthur go see the concern in Merlin's eyes. Merlin knew that something had shaken Arthur up and he wanted to be able to help.

Arthur took a deep breath, then he told Merlin about what had happened the night before with the voice. Merlin listened in silence and when Arthur was done, he furrowed his brow, thinking hard.

"I'm going crazy, aren't I?" asked Arthur.

Merlin shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Then what other explanation is there?"

"I don't know." Merlin admitted. He was silent for a few seconds. "The voice...can you describe it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...could you tell if it belonged to a man or a woman?"

"A woman. It was definitely the voice of a woman."

"Have you ever heard it before?"

Arthur frowned. "It sounded vaguely familiar, now that I think about it, but I honestly can't remember where I've heard it before." Merlin thought about this, but nothing seemed to make sense. He was sure Arthur wasn't making it up and he was even more certain that Arthur was not going crazy.

"Merlin." Merlin looked up wondering if Arthur had more to add. "Do not tell anyone else about this." Merlin nodded.

"Of course not, sire."

The next morning, Arthur woke refreshed. The voice had not come again to haunt him as he had feared, but instead he had slept in peace. He was beginning to believe he had merely dreamed the whole thing. The door burst open and Merlin looked deathly white. Arthur felt a chill running down his spine just looking at him. "Merlin? What's wrong?"

"The voice...I heard it last night. It was calling my name...just like it called yours." Merlin was shaking and Arthur knew instantly that he was telling the truth.

Arthur just stared at him, unsure what to say or do. "This is bad." he said finally and Merlin nodded his head in complete agreement.

"Very." Merlin added. "Very, very bad. What do we do?"

"I...I don't know." said Arthur. "The voice...did you recognize it as well?"

Merlin nodded. "Yes, I did, but like you I have no idea where from." Arthur and Merlin spent the rest of the day discussing the voice and where it could have come from, but nothing made sense. The more they talked, the more they realized the would have to act.

That night, two figures huddled in Arthur's room, hidden behind the side of the bed furthest away from the door. "What makes you think it will come back here?" Merlin whispered. "It might go haunt someone else."

"True," Arthur whispered back, "but I don't think it will. I can't explain it, Merlin, but I have a feeling that it will try to talk to me again."

"Arthur." It was the voice. Arthur was right, it was back to talk to him. Merlin nudged him.

"Hello." said Arthur, hoping he didn't sound as frightened as he felt. He would never admit it, but the voice absolutely terrified him. One glance at Merlin, and Arthur knew he felt the same. Merlin was shaking from head to toe. Arthur realized he would have to be brave for both their sakes.

"Hello, Arthur. Where are you? I can't see you."

Arthur looked at Merlin who was shaking his head frantically. He took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm here. What do you want with me?" A form shimmered in the air, then it was gone, but for a brief second Arthur had gotten a good look at it he and felt as if someone had just torn his heart out. He waited for the voice to reappear, but it was gone.

Merlin nearly jumped when he felt someone touch his arm, but relaxed when he saw that it was just Arthur. "What happened?" he whispered. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I did." Arthur said simply. Merlin blinked in surprise.

"What?"

Arthur looked at him, his blue eyes brimming over with tears. "Merlin, for a second, just a brief second, I...I saw my mother."

"But how?" asked Merlin. "She's...Arthur, I hate to remind you, but she's dead."

"I know, Merlin, but she was dead the last time we saw her too."

"But that was because Morgause 'summoned' her. We only saw her because of magic." Merlin and Arthur exchanged glances and an unspoken thought past between them. Had she been summoned by magic again? And is so, who had summoned her?

"No one did." Both young men nearly jumped out of their skins when the voice sounded close to their ears. They turned to see the shimmering form of Ygraine standing nearby. She eyes were filled with infinite sadness.

"How...how did you get here?" asked Arthur, his voice choked by the tears that were following unhindered down his face.

"Every once in a couple of decades, a spirit of the dead is allowed to visit their loved ones three nights in a row."

"But why did you come to see me?" asked Merlin. He was certainly not one of Ygraine's loved ones. "Why didn't you go see Uther instead?"

Ygraine sighed. "I would have, but his mind has become rather fragile of late. If I were to appear before him, he would have been scared out of his wits."

"But why me?" Merlin repeated.

Ygraine smiled kindly at him. "Because Merlin you are just as important as Uther and Arthur. Without them, they would be alive today. They need you, Merlin. They may not realize it yet, and I doubt Uther ever will, but in time Arthur will understand."

"What are you talking about?" asked Arthur. "Mother?"

Ygraine smiled sadly at her son. "I must go, Arthur."

"No!" said Arthur, trying to reach out and touch her, but his hand just passed through her. "Stay!"

Ygraine shook her head. "I cannot. I would vanish whether or not I wished to. Arthur, trust Merlin. He means well and whatever he says done, whatever he has told you or not told you, it has been to protect you. Remember that. I love." Then she was gone.

"I love you too." Arthur whispered, then this head fell to his chest and he cried. Merlin tentatively put his arms around his shoulders.

"What...what did she mean?" asked Arthur, between sobs. Merlin sighed.

"I...I cannot say...not yet anyway. It...it isn't the time, Arthur. You're...not ready yet, but when you are, I'll tell you I promise."

Arthur nodded and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He knew he would just have to trust Merlin. Even if his mother hadn't told him to, he would. Cause Merlin was Merlin, the most loyal person he had ever known.  
-

_Author's Note: Merry Christmas, Everyone!_


End file.
